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Lessons   in  Zoology. 


COMMON 


ANIMAL    FORMS 


BY 

CLARABEL   OILMAN 

THIRD    EDITION,   REVISED. 


BOSTON    AND   CHICAGO 

NEW   ENGLAND   PUBLISHING   COMPANY 

1898 


COPTBIGHT,   1892, 
BY 

Claeabki,  Gilman. 


PREFACE. 


This  little  book  is  the  oatcome  of  ten  years'  experience 
in  teaching  elementary  science.  It  embodies  the  outlines 
of  what  I  have  found  it  wise  to  attempt  with  children, 
and  is  o£Eered  to  teachers  with  the  hope  that  it  may 
prove  suggestive  and  helpful.  A  special  effort  has  been 
made  to  remove  stumbling-blocks,  by  explaining  points  of 
structure  that  are  likely  to  be  puzzling,  by  giving  minute 
directions  for  procuring  and  handling  specimens,  and  by 
providing  simple  outline  drawings  that  can  be  quickly 
copied  upon  the  blackboard  by  one  who  has  little  artistic 
talent. 

In  general,  the  lessons  are  composed  of  two  parts, — 
one  in  coarse  type,  consisting  of  short,  clear  statements 
of  children's  observations,  frequently  in  their  own  words, 
with  the  facts  that  a  teacher  must  sometimes  supply  in 
order  to  make  a  lesson  complete  in  essential  points  ;  the 
other  in  finer  type,  containing  directions  for  the  teacher 
and  additional  facts,  many  of  which  the  older  children 
can  be  led  to  discover  for  themselves.  In  some  of  the 
lessons  full  illustrations  have  been  given  of  the  method  of 
guiding  pupils'  observations  by  questions,  which  it  has  not 
been  thought  necessary  to  repeat  in  the  study  of  every 
type,    though   the    plan    remains   the    same   in   all.     If 


ii  Preface. 

children  are  carefally  taught  to  observe,  describe,  and 
compare  in  the  manner  outlined  here,  it  is  believed 
that  they  will  have  a  good  foundation  either  for  the 
later  scientific  study  of  zoology,  or  for  the  intelligent 
observation   of  animal  forms  in  nature. 

I  desire  now  to  express  my  gr^at  indebtedness  to 
Prof.  Alpheus  Hyatt  and  Messrs.  D.  C  Heath  &,  Co. 
for  the  use  of  a  large  number  of  figures  from  the 
admirable  series  of  "  Science  Guides  "  published  by  the 
latter.  Their  generosity  has  alone  rendered  it  possible 
to  illustrate  the  book  so  fully,  especially  in  the  lessons 
on  insects. 

The  remainder  of  the  cuts  have  been  drawn  from 
various  sources. 

Clababel  Gilmak. 

May  14,  1892. 


CONTENTS 


The  Sponge,           ...---  5 

Hydba,       ..---.  11 

Sea-Anemonk,            -----  15 

Corals,       ------  18 

Star-Fish,       ------  26 

Sea  Ubchin,           ,           -           -           -           -  33 

Clam                 ------  41 

Oyster,       ------  4£ 

Snail,               ------  54 

Earthworm,          .           .           -           -           -  59 

Lobster,          ------  61 

Crayfish  and  Crab,     -           -           -           -  69 

Hermit  Crab,            -----  72 

BkachFlea,         ...           -           -  75 

Spider,             -           -           -           -.          -           -  78 

Grasshopper,       -----  83 

Cricket,           ------  83 

Beetle,                  -----  92 

Dragon  Fly,               -----  96 

Bug, 99 

Cicada,            -           -           -           -           -           -  103 

Fly, 106 

Butterfly,                -           -           -           -           -  110 

Moth,          .-..--  113 

Bee, 119 

Ant, -  126 


AWARD  FROM 
WORLD^S    FAIR   COMMISSION. 


Lessons  in  Zoology  received  a  diploma  and  bronze 
medal  from  the  World's  Fair  Commission.  The 
award  reads  as  follows: 

AWARD. 

"For  a  successful  presentation  of  the  subject 
/n  a  manner  suited  to  tlie  compreliension  of  a 
child.  The  explanations  and  instructions  as  to 
handling  specimens  are  such  as  would  lead  a 
beginner    to   lay  a  good   foundation   for  future 


scientific  study.  The  illustrations  are  simple 
and  profuse,  and  can  be  reproduced  on  the 
blackboard." 


LESSONS  IN  ZOOLOGY. 


THE    SPONGE. 

Lesson  I. 

For  the  teacher,  a  bath  sponge  with  one  or  two  large  openings 
on  the  top;  for  each  child,  a  straight  wire  hairpin  and  a  slate 
sponge,  are  the  things  needfal  for  this  lesson.  Each  sponge  may 
be  cnt  verCioally,  almost  to  the  base,  through  one  of  the  large 
tnbes,  or  vertical  sections  may  be  used  with  the  whole  sponges. 
The  day  before  the  lesson,  each  child  shoold  wash  out  his  sponge 
and  notice  how  it  is  changed  by  the  water.  Sponges  should  always 
be  moist  when  studied.  The  hairpins  are  straightened  oat  for  use 
as  probes. 

The  children  have  already  learned  the  following  things : 

The  hard,  dry  sponges  took  in  water  through  all  the 
little  holes,  and  became  soft  and  elastic.  They  are  made 
of  threads  called  fibres,  whose  ends  project  in  little  brush- 
like  bundles  on  every  side  but  one,  and  this  side  is  darker 
and  smoother  than  the  others.  There  are  many  small 
holes  in  the  sponge,  and  only  a  few  large  ones,  or  some- 
times only  one.  One  or  two  bright  pupils  notice  that 
there  are  holes  all  through  the  sponge,  and  a  large  tube 
running  straight  down  from  the  large  opening. 

Children  will  gfive  some  of  these  points  spontaneously;  others 
must  be  brought  out  by  skillful  questioning. 

Now,  being  careful  not  to  tear  the  fibres,  we  put  the 
probes  into  the  large  openings,  and  trace  the  tubes  (Fig. 
1,  a)   into  which  they  lead,   almost   to  the  base  of  the 


6  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

sponge.  We  put  the  probes  into  the  small  holes,  and 
find  small  tubes  (Fig.  1,  b)  leading  from  some  of  them 
to  the  large  tubes ;  from  others,  cross  -tubes  (Fig.  1,  c) 


Fig.  1.    Vertical  section  of  glove  spouge  from  Nassau,  sbown  with 
the  flesb. 

connecting  one  small  tube  with  another.  Some  of  these 
connecting  tubes  in  process  of  formation  show  plainly  as 
channels  on  the  surface,  only  partly  covered  in  as  yet  by 
little  bridges  of  fibres.  Besides  these  tubes,  there  are 
others  so  small  that  we  cannot  trace  them  out  (Fig.  1,  d) 
passing  in  every  direction  through  the  mass  of  fibres. 

A  short  talk  about  the  home  of  the  sponfi^a  ends  the  lesson. 


The   Sponge.  7 

Let  us  find  Key  West  and  Nassau  on  the  map.  These 
are  the  two  principal  markets  for  American  sponges,  which 
live  in  the  Caribbean  Sea  and  off  the  Florida  coast.  If  we 
should  visit  Nassau,  a  boatman  would  take  us  out  to  the 
sponge  fisheries.  The  water  is  very  clear,  and  with  a  water- 
glass — a  tube,  or  box,  with  a  pane  of  glass  at  one  end — 
which  we  press  against  the  surface,  we  can  see  the  bottom. 
Here  and  there  on  the  coral  rock,  and  contrasting  with  the 
brightly  colored  fishes  and  the  brilliant  hues  of  the  sea-fans, 
are  some  dark  masses  fixed  to  the  reef  and  sending  out 
little  jets  of  water  from  openings  in  the  top.  These  are  the 
sponges.  We  have  in  the  boat  a  very  long-handled  fork, 
with  three  prongs,  curved  so  that  they  wiU  take  a  firm 
hold  of  the  sponge,  and  with  this  our  boatman  pulls  one 
off  from  the  rock.  Sometimes  they  are  taken  in  a  dredge, 
but  the  best  sponges  are  brought  up  by  divers.  Our  living 
sponge  has  a  dark  brownish  or  purplish  flesh  that  covers 
all  the  fibres.  After  the  sponges  are  killed  by  being  ex- 
posed to  the  air  for  a  day,  they  are  thrown  into  pens 
made  of  stakes  driven  in  shallow  water,  and  left  till  the 
flesh  decays.  Then  they  are  washed  and  trimmed,  and 
sorted  according  to  size,  and  afterward  packed  in  bales 
and  sent  to  New  York  or  London  to  market. 

This  is  true  of  American  sponges.  Mediterranean  sponges, 
which  are  much  finer  and  more  expensive,  receive  more  oarefal 
treatment. 

Lksson  II. 

For  this  lesson  every  kind  of  sponge  that  the  teacher  can  secare 
will  be  useful. 

Review  of  Lesson  I.  :  The  sponge  is  a  mass  of  elastic  fibres.  The 
edges  of  the  fibres  stand  out  on  every  t'lAe  bat  one,  which  is  smooth 
and  dark.  The  sponge  is  full  of  tubes  that  open  on  the  outside. 
There  are  four  sets  of  tubes  :  large  tubes,  small  tubes  that  lead 
from  the  surface  to  the  large  ones,  cross  tubes  that  connect  these 


8 


Larsons  in  Zoology. 


small  tnbes  with  one  another^  and  microscopic  tabes  too  small  to  be 
traced  ont.  Oar  sponges  come  from  the  Caribbean  Sea  or  tho 
Florida  coast,  and  were  taken  from  the  rocks  with  a  curved  fork  or 
a  dredge.  Mediterranean  sponges  are  brought  up  by  divers.  When 
alive  they  were  covered  with  a  dark-colored  flash,  but  the  flesh  has 
been  removed,  and  only  the  fibres  are  left. 


OUTLINE    OF    NEW    WORK. 


What  was  the  use  of  the  fibres  ?  Not  only  to  support 
the  flesh,  but  also  to  protect  the  animal.  They  are  made 
of  a  horny  substance,  and  so  tough  that  fishes  very  seldom 


Fig.   2. 

try  to  eat  a  sponge.  The  hard  pa'ts  of  a  body,  support- 
ing and  protecting  softer  ones,  are  the  skeleton.  Weliave 
only  the  skeleton  of  our  sponges.  Which  side  was  fixed 
to  the  rock  ?  We  are  sure  it  was  the  smooth,  dark  side, 
because  it  appears  to  have  been  cut,  and  also  because  some 
of  the  sponges  have  bits  of  rock  caught  in  the  fibres  on 
this  side. 

Where  does  the  sponge  get  its  food  ?    From  the  water 


TJie  Sponge.  9 

it  takes  in  through  the  tubes.  It  takes  in  water  through 
the  small  tubes  that  we  see,  and  the  tiny  ones  that  we 
cannot  trace  carry  it  all  over  the  sponge.  When  the 
sponge  has  taken  from  the  water  the  very  smallest  plants 
and  animals,  which  are  its  food,  and  has  given  carbonic 
acid  in  exchange  for  oxygen,  then  the  water  passes  out 
through  the  large  tubes.  But  as  only  the  most  minute 
plants  and  animals  can  pass  through  the  microscopic  tubes 
without  danger  of  choking  them  up,  a  thin,  porous  skin 


Fia.  3. 


Fig.  4. 


Fio.  5. 


like  a  delicate  sieve  covers  the  whole  sponge  except  the 
two  or  three  large  openings.  But  why  does  no  water 
enter  at  these  ?  Because  there  is  always  a  current  flowing 
out  from  them. 

Id  little  sacs  (Fig  2*)  all  over  the  sponge  are  cells  (a)  bearing  each 
a  microscopic  whip  (c),  always  lashing  the  water  and  producing  the 
carrents  that  carry  the  fool  water  oat  through  the  large  tubes  as  fresh 
streams  come  id  through  the  small  ones.  In  these  cells,  too,  the  food 
is  digested.  Though  the  outward  current  keeps  the  large  tubes 
open,  yet  if  a  living  sponge  is  disturbed,  it  will  contract  so  forcibly 
as  to  close  even  these  openings. 


*  Figs.  2  3,  aud  4  are  highly  magnified,  wbile  Fig.  5  is  mocb  reduced 
from  tbe  natural  size. 


10  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

Baby  sponges  can  swim  about  in  the  water,  but  they 
soon  form  a  sucker  at  one  end,  by  which  they  fix  them- 
selves (Fig.  3)  to  rocks,  sheila,  or  even  the  sea  fans  and 
other  branching  corals,  and  after  that  they  never  leave 
their  home  unless  something  tears  them  off. 

Many  sponges  grow  on  our  New  England  coast,  but 
are  too  brittle  to  be  of  any  use.  A  little  white  sponge 
that  grows  among  shells  in  the  mud  just  below  low- water 
mark,  consists  of  small  branching  tubes  about  an  inch  long. 
It  has  no  fibres  in  its  skeleton,  but  everywhere  in  its  flesh 
are  little  three  armed  bits  of  lime  called  spicules  (Fig.  4). 

The  common  finger-sponge  (Fig.  5)  grows  in  large  masses 
on  rocks  and  piles.  The  dark  red  and  soft  yellow  masses 
found  in  salt  water,  and  the  white  flattened  cakes  often 
cast  up  on  the  shore  and  dried  hard  in  the  sun,  are  all 
sponges,  the  last  named  called  by  the  sailors  "  seamen's 
biscuit." 

In  a  quantity  of  oyster  shells  there  will  usually  be  one 
or  two,  at  least,  that  have  been  attacked  by  the  boring 
spopge.  which  tunnels  them  through  and  through,  and 
fii:»''yy  destroys  them  by  dissolving  out  all  their  lime. 


THE   HYDRA. 

A  tiny  green  or  light  brown  jelly-like  lump  as  large  as  the  head 
of  a  small  pin  ;  a  slender  stem,  perhaps  one  fonrth  of  an  inch  long, 
with  several  transparent  threads  waving  from  its  tip ;  or  a  graoefnl 
vase  wiirh  a  few  blunt  projections  from  the  top ;  any  cr  all  of  these 
clingiog  to  water-plants  or  any  other  support  in  fresh-water  ponds 
or  qaiet  streams,  may  be  the  hydra  we  are  seeking.  We  tell  the 
children  we  are  going  to  look  for  a  new  animal,  and  invite  some  of 
the  older  ones  to  join  as  in  a  walk,  thus  enlisting  their  interest  in  the 
hydra  in  advance.  It  is  a  wise  precantion  to  fill  our  glass  jars  at 
several  different  ponds,  rather  than  to  fill  several  jars  from  one 
pond,  becanee  the  fact  that  hydras  have  been  fonnd  in  a  given 
place  one  year  seems  to  be  no  guarantee  whatever  that  they  will  be 
found  there  the  next  year.  After  the  water  has  settled,  the  hydras 
will  expand  and  many  of  them  will  collect  on  the  sides  of  the  jar. 
A  dozen  watch-crystals  filled  with  pond-water,  each  with  a  bit  of 
duckweed  or  some  other  green  water-plant,  make  excellent  ponds  for 
as  many  hydras,  in  which  children  can  examine  them  with  magni- 
fiers, watch  them  eat,  and  observe  the  difiFerent  shapes  they  assume. 
Pupils  that  are  old  enough  will  enjoy  making  a  series  of  drawings 
showing  these  different  formp. 

Four  questions  may  be  put  upon  the  blackboard,  one  at 
a  time,  for  the  children  to  answer  from  their  own  ob- 
servations :  What  is  a  hydra  ?  Where  does  it  live  ? 
What  can  it  do  ?    How  do  new  hydras  grow  ? 

After  a  few  days  the  answers  to  these  questions  will 
bring  out  many  of  the  following  facts,  in  addition  to  those 
already  mentioned. 

The  hydra  is  a  green  or  brown  tube,  attached  by  its 
lower  end  to  some  support,  and  sending  out  several  ten- 
tacles near  its  upper  end.  Fig.  1  shows  one  magnified 
many  times,  hanging  mouth  downward,  from  a  bit  of 
wood.  The  upper  end  of  the  tube  beyond  the  tentacles 
is  called  the  proboscis.     At  the  end  of  the  proboscis  is 


12 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


the  mouth,  an   opening  leading    into  the  central  hollow 
or  stomach. 

The  tentacles  are  hollow,  like  so  many  glove  fingers 
pushing  out  around  the  mouth.  They  are  the  hydra's  fish- 
ing rods,  bearing  numbers  of  little  pockets,  —  the  thread- 
cells — on  their  sides,  in  which  the  fishing  lines  are  coiled  up. 
Each  line,  instead  of  a  hook  at  the  end  of  it,  has  three 
poisoned   darts   just  where   it   issues    from    the    pocket. 


Fio.  1. 


Fig.  2. 


Fig.  3. 


Fig.  2  represents  a  portion  of  a  tentacle  highly  magnified, 
with  the  thread-cells  in  clusters  on  its  surface.  Fig.  3 
is  a  single  cell  after  it  has  burst  and  the  thread  uncoiled. 
When  a  tentacle  touches  a  tiny  worm  or  crustacean, 
the  pockets  burst,  and  the  lines  entangle  the  prey  in  their 
coils,  while  the  poisoned  darts  quickly  paralyze  it.  If 
some  creature  too  large  to  be  paralyzed  is  caught  by  the 
lines,  then  ensues  a  grand  "  tug  of  war "  between  that 
and  the  hydra. 

I  once  watched  snch  a  struggle  between  a  hydra  and  the  larva  of 
an  inspct,  which  lasted  an  hoar  and  three  qnarters.  Even  then  the 
resolt  was  doabtfnl,  bat  anfortanately  the  dish  containing  the  com- 


The  Eydra. 


16 


batants  had   to  be  moved,  and  the  stirring  of  the  water  shook  the 
exbanated  animals  free  from  each  other. 

The  hydra  is  extremely  sensitive,  and  contracts  at  once 
if  touched.  The  variety  of  shapes  it  can  assume,  espe- 
cially when  digesting  its  food,  is  very  wonderful. 


Fig.  4-6. 

There  are  buds  on  some  of  the  hydras,  which  at  first 
look  like  knobs,  then  grow  larger,  form  tentacles  (Fig. 
4  —  6),  and  gradually  pinch  themselves  ofiE  from  the 
parent,  and  set  up  for  themselves.  In  the  autumn  eggs 
are  produced  (Fig.  1  a),  which  live  through  the  winter. 


Fig.  7-11. 


In  1744,  Trembley,  a  watchmaker  of  Geneva,  performed 
a  reinarkable  series  of  experiments  upon  hydras.  He 
found  that  they  can  move  about  by  turning  somersaults 
(Figs.  7-11)  ;  that  if  cut  in  small  slices,  each  slice  becomes 


14 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


a  complete  hydra  ;  that  if  slit  in  various  ways,  a  whole 
colony  may  be  produced  from  one  (Figs.  12-13)  ;  and 
when  one  is  turned  inside  out,  it  goes  on  eating,  and  ap- 
pears to  enjoy  life  quite  as  much  as  before. 


In  tide-pools  and  on  the  seaweed  along  onr  coast  we  find  graoe- 
fnl,  delicate,  flower-like  olnstera,  often  mistaken  for  sea-mosses. 
These  are  hydroids,  or  hydra-like  animals,  whose  bnds  remain  con- 
neQted  9nd  forca  colonies. 


THE   SEA- ANEMONE. 


With  living  anemones  this  lesson  can  be  made  intensely  interest- 
ing ;  without  them  it  should  not  be  given  to  children.  Those  who  are 
not  too  far  from  Boston  can  send  jirs  to  the  superintendent  of 
Essex  Bridge,  Salem,  Mass.,  who  will  fill  them  at  a  reasonable  price. 
Young  anemones  can  be  brought  as  far  as  Boston,  at  least,  simply 
packed  in  wet  seaweed.  Nowhere  else  on  our  northern  coast  can 
such  a  number  or  variety  of  anemones  be  seen  as  at  Beverly  Bridge. 
The  light  pink  or  salmon  colored  ones  show  the  structure  best,  for 


FtG.  ]. 


Fig.  2. 


when  fnlly  expanded  they  reveal  the  partitions  of  the  body-cavity 
beautifully  through  their  nearly  transparent  walls.  Fig.  1  repre- 
sents one  fully  expanded;  Fig.  2,  only  partially.  Very  yonng 
anemones,  not  more  than  an  inch  long,  will  show  the  connection 
with  the  hydra,  both  on  account  of  their  small  size  and  of  their 
having  fewer  tentacles  than  the  full-grown  ones. 

It  has  been  my  experience  that  large  ones  do  not  thrive  in  con- 
finement, but  they  can  be  kept  for  some  days  if  but  one  is  placed 
in  each  jar,  and  care  is  taken  to  keep  them  nool.  Candy  jars  are 
best,  because  the  wide  month  allows  the  air  free  access  to  the  water. 
If  enough  sea  water  cannot  be  had  to  change  that  in  the  jars  every 
day,  it  may  be  aerated  by  pouring  it  back  and  forth  a  number  of 


16 


Lessons  ia  Zoology. 


times  in  a  oaraent  of  air.  Yoang  anemoQes  may  sometimea  be  in- 
daced  to  eat  meat,  drawing  it  into  the  month  with  their  tentacles, 
and  will  generally  take  the  little  crab  foand  in  the  gills  of  oysters, 
which  they  consider  an  especial  dainty,  bat  I  have  never  been  able 
to  tempt  the  older  ones  with  anything.  They  will  not  expand  well 
nnlesa  kept  in  a  cool,  shady  place,  that  shall  at  least  remind  them 
of  the  tide-pools  where  they  hide  under  the  shadow  of  the  rooks 
and  seaweed.  If  we  try  to  handle  them,  as  in  taking  them  off  the 
rocks,  they  contract  into  little  solid  lamps  (Fig.  3),  with  app->^- 
ently  neither  month  nor  tentacles. 

The  children  shoald  examine  them  for  several  days,  then  brinir 
the  results  of  their  observations  to  the  class,  as  was  dune  with  the 
hydra. 


The  body  is  hollow  and  cyl- 
inder-shaped, but  very  much 
larger  and  broader  than  that 


Fig.  3. 


Fig.  4. 


of  the  hydra.  By  the  lower  end  it  attaches  itself  to 
some  object,  and  the  upper  end  is  a  broad  disk  with  the 
mouth  in  its  center.  The  mouth  seems  to  be  an  opening 
produced  by  folding  the  skin  inward.  Around  the  mouth 
are  many  rows  of  tentacles,  which  are  finger-like  projec- 
tions from  the  body. 

In  the  center  is  the  stomach.  Many  partitions  extend 
inward  from  the  body-wall,  some  of  which  join  the  stom- 
ach and  hold  it  in  place,  others  reach  only  a  part  of  the 
way  to  the  stomach.  They  are  shown  like  the  spokes  of 
a  wheel  in  the  cross-section  given  in  Fig.  5,  with  the  eggs 


The  Sea-Anemone. 


17 


attached  to  them.  In  very  transparent  anemones  it  can 
be  seen  that  the  tentacles  project  over  the  spaces  between 
the  partitions.  The  stomach  is  not  simply  a  cavity  hol- 
lowed out  in  the  body,  as  in  the  hydra,  but  is  another  hol- 
low bag  hanging  down  inside  the  outer  one. 

When  very  young  the  sea-anemone  is 
like  the  hydra,  bat  as  it  grows,  the 
npper  end  of  the  body-tabe  folds  inward 
till  ic  hangs  down  inside  as  an  open  sao, 
abont  half  as  long  as  the  body.  To  illas- 
trate  this,  take  a  glove-finger  and  cat 
off  the  end  to  represent  a  hydra,  then 
tarn  in  the  end  for  some  distance,  and 
the  part  hanging  down  inside  will  repre- 
sent the  stomach  of  the  anemone.  The 
proboscis  of  the  hydra  and  the  stomach 
of  the  sea-anemone  are  therefore  precisely  similar  in  their  origin, 
thoagh  different  in  their  use ;  that  is,  they  are  homologous.  While 
digestion  is  going  on,  the  lower  end  of  the  stomach  is  closed  by 
muscles,  and  ref ose  matter  is  afterward  ejected  through  the  month. 

The  tentacles  are  covered  with  lasso-cells,  or  thread- 
cells,  similar  to  those  of  the  hydra.  The  white  threads 
thown  out  from  tiny  loop-holes  in  its  sides  when  an  anem- 
one is  disturbed,  also  bear  myriads  of  these  little  weapons. 

Sea-anemones  are  often  produced  from  buds,  which 
form  around  the  base  of  the  old  ones.  If  one  is  torn  in 
scraping  it  from  the  rocks,  the  portion  left  behind  will 
become  a  perfect  animal. 


Fig.  5. 


CORALS. 


Lesson   I. 


A  single  large  speoimen  of  Galaxea  (Fig.  1)  or  some  other  ooral 
with  large  tabes,  will  fnrniah  every  child  in  a  class  with  a  tube  for 
study,  while  the  teacher  should  have  a  piece  consisting  of  three  or 
four  tubes,  and  ^  if  possible,  one  or  two  smaller  ones  jast  budding 
out.  Though  Oalazea  is  best,  still  no  teacher  need  omic  the  lesson, 
if  she  can  obtain  pieces  of  the  common  madrepore  or  finger-coral 
(Fig.  2).  But  if  this  is  used,  each  child  should  have  the  end  of 
a  branch  showing  the  large  polyp  at  the  tip,  and  a  group  of  little 
ones  around  it.  A  living  sea-anemone  in  the  schoolroom  will  be 
a  great  help.  Blackboard  drawings  of  budding  hydrsa  should  also 
be  kept  for  the  lesBoo. 


Fig.  1. 


Fig.  2. 


The  children  have  become  familiar  with  the  idea  of  the 
skeleton  in  the  sponge,  so  they  at  once  see  that  coral  is 
only  the  skeleton  of  the  coral  animal,  and  that  each  tube 
is  made  by  one  animal.  They  quickly  make  the  follow- 
ing observations  : 

It  is  white.  It  is  shaped  like  a  tube.  It  has  lines  on 
the  outside.  It  has  little  walls  on  the  inside.  It  is  hard 
like  stone. 


Corals. 


19 


The  teacher  tells  them  that  this  is  a  stony  coral,  with  a 
skeleton  made  of  lime.  Then  they  look  carefully  at  the 
top  and  the  sides  of  the  skeleton,  to  see  if  it  will  remind 
them  of  any  animal  they  have  studied,  and  find  it  is  like 
the  sea-anemone. 

Some  pieces  of  Galazea  will  show  plainly  that  there  are  twelve 
Btony  partitions  that  nearly  meet  in  the  center  of  the  tnbe,  and 
twelve  more  that  are  shorter,  bat  the  specimen-]  are  often  so  broken 
that  it  is  difficnlt  to  tell  how  many  of  the  partitions  are  long  and 
how  many  are  short.  It  is  not  best  to  have  the  children  coant  them 
nnless  the  teacher  knows  from  personal  examination  of  the  tnbes 
that  her  pupils  can  readily  see  how  many  little  walls  of  each  sort 
there  are. 

After  the  question.  How  are  these  tubes  held  together  ? 
an  examination  of  the  teacher's  large  specimen  shows  that 
a  stony,  white,  spongy  substance  connects  them. 


Fig.  3. 


Fig.  4. 


Fig.  3  has  been  put  on  the  blackboard,  drawn  wholly  in  red,  be- 
cause it  shows  only  the  fleshy  parts  of  the  coral.  This  ia  not  the 
Galazea,  but  it  has  the  same  kind  of  a  stony  skeleton,  and  the 
same  arrangement  of  all  the  fleshy  parts.  The  cbildren  now  de- 
scribe this  figure. 

This  new  coral  has  a  fleshy  tube.  It  has  a  disk  at  the 
top  of  the  tube,  with  the  mouth  in  the  center.  It  has  ten- 
tacles around  the  mouth.     There   are  little  aninoials  bad- 


20  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

ding  from  some  of  the  tubes.     There  is  flesh  covering  the 
stony  skeleton  between  the  tubes. 

It  is  easy  now  to  understand  that  the  spongy  filling  be- 
tween the  tubes  of  Galaxea  is  formed  by  the  layer  of  flesh 
that  covers  it,  and  connects  the  animals.  A  colony  of 
Galaxea  is  formed  by  the  budding  of  young  animals  from 
this  connecting  layer,  around  the  base  of  the  old  ones. 

Fig.  4  is  a  cross  section  of  the  body  of  a  living  coral,  bat  does  not 
show  the  stonaaeh.  It  represents  what  we  should  see  if  we  were  to 
out  o£F  the  npper  half  of  the  tabe  and  then  look  down  upon  what 
was  left.  For  the  blackboard  the  unshaded  parts  should  be  drawn 
in  red,  to  represent  flesh,  and  the  shaded  parts  in  white,  for  the 
stony  skeleton.     The  children  now  tell  what  they  see  in  this  figure : 

There's  a  tube  of  flesh  outside  of  the  tube  of  stone. 
There  are  fleshy  partitions  and  stony  ones.  The  fleshy 
partitions  are  in  pairs,  and  the  stony  ones  are  not.  There 
are  six  pairs  of  long,  fleshy  partitions,  and  six  pairs  of 
short  ones.  There  are  six  long  stony  partitions,  and  six 
short  ones.  There  is  a  tube  of  flesh  inside  the  stony  tube, 
and  the  fleshy  partitions  grow  out  from  that. 

The  stony  partitions  are  not  formed  by  the  fleshy  ones,  but  grow  iu 
folds  of  the  fleshy  tube,  that  arise  from  its  base  between  the  fleshy  parti- 
tions. 


Lesson   II. 

The  same  specimens  are  needed  as  for  the  last  lesson,  with 
finger-coral  besides. 

Review  by  asking  what  the  coral  has  that  the  sea- 
anemone  has,  then  what  the  coral  has  that  the  sea-anemone 
has  not.  This  comparison  will  bring  out  from  some 
bright  child  the  observation,  "  Why,  the  coral  is  just  like 
a  little  sea-anemone  with  a  skeleton  !  "  This  is  exactly 
what  we  wish  to  find  out,  and  the  children  will  see  it 


Corals. 


21 


Fig  5. 


more  clearly  if  there  is  still  a  little  colony  of  very  small 
sea-anemones  in  the  schoolroom. 

Fig.  5  is  a  diagram  to  be  drawn  ia  red  and  white,  showiug  the 
apper  half  of  the  fleshy  tube  with  the  tentacles,  and  a  croas-seotion 
through  the  calcareooa 
tnbe  with  ita  partitions. 
To  make  it  plainer,  only 
six  long  and  six  short 
partitions  are  shown, 
and  jnst  as  many  tenta- 
cles, each  long  tentacle 
lying  directly  above  a 
long  partition,  and  each 
short  tentacle  above  a 
short  one.  This  figure 
not  only  shovra  the  re- 
semblance between  the 
coral  animal  and  the 
sea-anemone,  and  the  re- 
lations of  the  fleshy  parts  to  the  calcareous  akeletuu,  but  also  the 
manner  in  which  the  fleshy  base  of  the  tubes  (Jb)  extends  from  one 
to  another,  thus  binding  together  all  the  animals.  It  is  this  which 
forms  the  spongy  filling  of  lime  (c)  between  the  tubes,  and  from 
which  new  tubes  bud  as  the  colony  grows.  A  vertical  section 
through  a  large  piece  of  Oalaxea  will  often  show  that  moat  of  the 
polyps  die  at  the  end  of  each  season  ;  but  the  next  season  those  that 
have  lived  spread  out  their  fleshy  baaea  and  build  a  new  apongy 
layer  of  lime  over  the  tapa  of  the  dead  tubas  below. 

The  children  will  have  suspected  by  this  time  that  the 
stomach,  the  month,  and  the  poisoned  lines  on  the  tenta^ 
cles  of  the  coral  are  like  those  of  the  sea-anemone,  as  is 
really  the  case. 

The  claaa  b  now  ready  for  the  finger-ooral,  and  the  teacher  may 
happen  to  have  a  piece  that  reaembles  a  hand  with  fingers,  thus 
suggesting  ita  name.     The  children'a  observations  follow  : 

It  is  white  and  stony.  It  gfrows  in  branches.  It  has 
little  bits  of  cups  on  the  branches.  It  has  very  small 
tubes.     The  tube  at  the  end  of  the  branch  is  much  larger 


22  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

than  the  others.  The  large  tube  has  partitions  on  the 
inside  and  on  the  outside  too,  but  the  little  tubes  are  only 
rough.  I  think  that  is  because  the  tubes  are  so  small  that 
the  partitions  can't  grow  very  far.  The  smallest  tubes  of 
all  are  close  to  the  large  tube  at  the  end  of  the  branch. 
They  look  as  if  they  had  budded  from  the  large  tube. 

Some  of  these  obacrTations  mast  be  drawn  oat  by  each  qaestions 
as  will  readily  occur  to  any  teacher. 

Now  if  a  branch  of  the  coral  is  broken  and  passed 
around  the  class  for  the  scholars  to  examine  the  broken 
^nds,  while  one  with  an  eye  for  beauty,  may  see 
"  something  like  lace  with  a  star  in  the  middle,"  and 
another  only  "a  piece  of  stone  with  a  little  wheel  in 
it "  ;  some  one  will  finally  discover  that  "  the  middle 
of  the  branch  looks  like  a  cross  section  of  a  tube " 
(Fig.  2a),  In  this  way  children  can  find  out  for  them- 
selves that  the  large  tube  at  the  end  of  a  branch,  which 
ha>s  kept  on  growing  year  after  year,  is  the  one  from 
which  all  the  rest  have  budded.  Great  bushes  of  this 
coral  sometimes  grow  to  the  height  of  sixteen  feet,  so  we 
k(iow  that  the  parent  polyp  of  each  branch  must  live 
ta  a  great  age. 

The  stony  corals  are  the  reef-boilders,  and  a  large  part  of  every 
coral  reef  consists  of  branches  of  madrepore  beaten  and  poanded 
by  the  waves  into  a  mass  of  coral  rock.  These  lessons  on  stony 
corals  may  well  be  followed  by  an  imaginary  trip  to  the  ooral 
islands  for  a  geography  lesson. 


Corals. 


23 


Lesson   111. 


Fig    6. 

A  whole  sea- fan  (Fig.  6)  for  the  teacher,  and  small  pieces  for  the 
children,  with  the  stony  corals  before  used,  are  needed  for  this  les- 
son. These  shonld  be  sapplemented  by  a  small  piece  of  the  precious 
red  coral,  and  by  a  blackboard  drawing  of  Fig.  7  in  colors.  In  this 
red-coral  the  branches  themselves,  as  well  as  the  flesh  ooTering 
them,  are  red,  while  the  separate  polyps  are  white. 

The  name  fan-coral,  or  sea-fan  is  quickly  suggested 
as  the  teacher's  large  specimen  is  held  up  before  the  class, 
after  which  pupils'  observations  are  io  order : 

My  piece  of  sea-fan  is  yellow.  Mine  has  dark  edges. 
Mine  is  made  of  a  great  many  little  branches,  that  join 
together  in  a  network.     I  can  break  off  something  like  a 


24 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


Fig.  7 


yellowr  crust  from  the  edges  of  mine,  and  there's  a  little 
dark  brown  wire  left.  I  can  see  lots  of  little  dots  all  over 
mine.     They  look  like  pin-holes. 

All  are  now  interested  to 
learn  that  the  "  yellow  crust  " 
is  the  flesh  that  connected  all 
the  animals  of  the  colony,  and 
the  "  brown  wire  "  is  the  skel- 
eton. The  flesh  contains  so 
many  bits  of  lime  that  it  be- 
comes hard  when  it  dries,  and 
so  remains  on  the  stems.  The 
skeleton  is  horny.  In  order 
to  understand  what  the  '•  pin- 
holes "  are  we  must  turn  to 
the  diagram  of  the  red  coral  (Fig  7),  which  the  children 
describe  : 

There  is  red  flesh  between  the  coral  animals.  The 
coral  animals  are  white.  They  have  only  eight  tentacles. 
The  tentacles  are  fringed.  One  of  the  coral  animals  has 
drawn  itself  back  into  the  red  flesh,  and  only  its  tentacles 
show.  Two  other  coral  animals  have  drawn  themselves 
all  back  into  the  red  flesh,  and  there's  only  a  little  bit  of 
white  in  a  round,  red  place  to  show  where  they  were. 

It  is  now  easy  to  see  that  the  animals  which  make  the 
Galaxea  and  the  finger-coral  could  not  hide  so  nicely  in 
the  flesh  that  covers  the  branch  because  the  stony  tubes 
would  be  in  the  way,  and  to  draw  the  conclusion  that  the 
red  coral  has  no  separate  tubes.  Neither  does  the  fan- 
coral    animal   make   tubes. 

Skillful  questions  now  lead  the  pupils  to  see  that  if  the 
red-coral  animals  die,  and  the  flesh  dries,  a  red  stem 
will  be  left  with  dried  flesh  on  it,  and  in  the  flesh  little 
holes  that  show  where  the  animals  were.     So  they  know 


Corals. 


25 


that  the  "  pin-holes  "  in  the  yellow  flesh  of  the  sea-fan 
are  the  places  where  the  living  animals  were. 

The  sea-fan  and  the  red-ooral,  as  well  as  the  others  studied,  in- 
crease by  bndding,  bat  in  all  these,  each  separate  colony  starts 
from  a  single  ^g. 


Fig.  8 


Fio.  9. 


The  lesson  ends  with  a  conaparison  of  the  stony  corals 
and  the  sea-fan,  which  the  children  afterwards  write  out. 

Fig.  8  represents  a  coral  like  the  sea- fan  in  strnotnre,  in  which 
the  branches  do  not  interlace.  Fig.  9  is  the  organ-pipe  coral  with 
its  g^een  polyps  expanded  above  the  red  tubes. 


THE    STAR- FISH. 


Lesson  I. 


Specimbns  :  A  dried  star-fiah  and  a  single  dried  ray  for  eaoh 
child,  and  a  few  large  atar-lishes  in  alcohol.  The  single  rays 
should  be  cut  open  down  the  back  and  the  contents  removed,  leav- 
ing only  the  sacs  connecting  with  the  tube-feet.  The  best  way  to 
prepare  star-fishes  dry  is  to  put  them  into  fresh  water  until  their 
bodies  become  fully  roundad,  then  to  soak  in  alcohol  for  aa  hour  or 
two  to  harden  the  tissues,  and  finally  to  dry  in  the  sun  or  a  moder- 
ately hot  oven.  If  alcohol  is  too  expensive,  they  may  be  put  into 
boiling  water  for  a  few  minutes  before  drying.  But  the  rays  will 
drop  off  if  they  are  left  in  the  hot  water  too  long.  In  this  lesson, 
and  the  two  following,  parts  are  described  as  they  appear  on  dried 
tpecimena. 


v.  Hi' '3. 


Fig.  1. 


The  Star -Fish.  27 

Our  new  friend  is  called  a  star-fish,  from  its  shape  like 
a  star  with  five  points,  which  we  call  rays  or  arms.  Its 
home  is  in  the  sea,  on  the  piles  of  wharves,  among  the 
rocks,  or  on  oyster  and  mussel  beds.  In  summer  it  is 
often  found  above  low-water  mark  in  tide  pools,  but  in 
winter  it  takes  refuge  in  deeper  water.  When  dried  it 
gfives  us  no  idea  of  the  rich  colors, — red,  bluish,  green,  or 
brown, — with  which  it  beautifies  the  sea-bottom.  Unlike 
most  of  the  animals  so  far  studied,  it  can  move  slowly 
from  place  to  place. 

The  children  at  once  find  the  mouth,  but  we  wish  to 
study  the  back  first,  "  the  side  that  is  rough  all  over." 
(Fig.  1.)  Holding  this  uppermost  we  find  the  sieve,  a 
round,  coral-like  spot  that  is  red  or  orange  when  the  star- 
fish is  alive,  and  n<«ed  to  filter  the  water  that  passes  in 
through  it.  The  central  part  of  the  star-fish  is  the  disk. 
The  sieve  is  on  one  side  of  the  disk,  near  the  angle  where 
two  rays  meet.  If  now  a  line  is  drawn  from  the  sieve 
across  the  disk  and  through  the  middle  of  the  opposite 
ray,  there  will  be  the  same  number  of  rays 
on  each  side  of  the  line,  that  is,  the  star- 
fish will  be  divided  in  halves. 

This  gives  as  a  hint  of  the  bilateral  symmetry 
seen  more  perfectly  in  the  higher  forms. 

The  back  of  the  star-fish  is  covered 
with  knobs, — "  prickers,"  the  children  may 
say, — called  spines.  They  are  short  and 
Fig.  2.  rounded  at  the  tip,  and  we  find  by  trying 
them  on  alcoholic  specimens,  that  they  do  not  move. 
Between  and  around  the  spines  are  little  things  looking 
like  tiny  grains  of  meal,  which  are  two-pronged  forks,  or 
pedicellariae  (Fig.  2),  always  opening  and  shutting.  We 
do  not  know  their  use,  unless  it  is  to  keep  dirt  from  cling- 
ing to  the  star-fish.     On  alcoholic  specimens  these  will 


28  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

show  beautifully  in  little  circles  around  the  spines. 

Covering  the  star-fish  we  see  the  brown  skin,  and  look- 
ing on  the  inside  of  the  back  of  the  separate  rays,  we 
find  the  beams  of  the  skeleton,  like  little  bones  imbed- 
ded in  the  flesh,   making  an  irregular  net-  work. 

Every  one  who  has  seen  a  living  star-fish,  haa  noticed  the 
difference  between  its  ronsded  outline  in  the  water  and  ita  flat- 
tened appearance  when  thrown  np  on  the 
beach.  This  is  because  the  skin  of  the 
back  is  pushed  out  into  numerous  tubes 
like  tiny  glove-fingers  (Fig.  3,  d),  80  thin 
and  delicate  that  they  fill  with  water  and 
again  allow  it  to  ooze  out  of  them  when 
exposed  to  the  air.  These  tubes,  that 
can  scarcely  be  seen  by  the  naked  eje, 
„  are   really  also    a    rudimentary   sort    of 

gills,  for  through  their  thin  walls  oxygen 
passes  from  the  water  into  the  body  of  the  star- fish. 


Lesson  II. 

We  now  study  the  under  or  mouth  side  of  the  star-fish.  Some  of 
the  specimena  will  show  the  mouth  as  a  large  circular  opening 
with  a  membrane  surrounding  it ;  others  will  have  a  brown  mass, 
the  dried  stomach,  filling  the  opening  or  protruding  from  it ;  and 
still  others  may  have  it  nearly  hidden  by  ten  long  spines,  two  from 
each  ray,  meeting  over  it  like  so  many  teeth. 

The  mouth  with  the  long  spines  around  it,  the  stomach 
usually  seen  just  inside  it,  and  the  brown  suckers  filling 
the  grooves  in  the  rays  (Fig.  4)  first  attract  our  attention. 
The  stomach  can  be  protruded  by  means  of  muscles  at- 
tached to  it.  This  is  because  our  friend  feeds  on  shell- 
fish, working  great  havoc  on  the  oyster  and  mussel  beds. 
It  clasps  an  oyster  with  its  rays,  then  turns  out  its  stom- 
ach, and  proceeds  to  digest  its  victim  at  its  leisure.  A 
star-fish  will  clean  a  shell  in  this  way  more  perfectly 
than  it  can  be  done  by  hand. 


The   Star -Pish. 


29 


The  four  rows  of  suckers  in  each  ray  are  on  the  ends  of 
the  tube-feet.  In  alcoholic  specimens  these  completely  fill 
the  grooves,  and  in  life  they  even  extend  beyond.  The 
star-fish  moves  about  very  slowly,  stretching 
out  one  ray  as  far  as  possible  in  front,  plant- 
ing a  few  suckers  at  a  time,  drawing  the 
body  up  to  them,  then  lifting  them  and  tak- 
ing a  fresh  start.  The  tube-feet  at  the  tip  of 
each  ray  are  extended  in  front  as  feelers. 


Tb»    sieve  on  the  back  connecta  by  a  tnbe  with 
lim«t  ia  its  walls,  hence  called  the  stone  canal,  with 
a  ciicalar  canal  aronnd  the  month,  from    which  a 
tabe  extends    down   each  ray.     From  these   radial 
tabes  branches  lead  to  each  one  of  the  small,  masca- 
lar  sacs   (Fig.  3,  g)  seen  on  the  inside  of  the  rays  to 
be  connected  with  the  tabe  -  feet.     These  sacs  and 
some  larger  ones  opening  into  the  circular  canal,  act 
as  reservoirs  for  the  water  that  enters  at  the  sieve 
and  force  it  down  into  the  tabe-feet  when  the  star- 
Fio.  4         fish  movee.     One  can  folly  understand   and   appre- 
ciate this  water-system  of  the  star-fish  only  by  see- 
ing it  in  a  specimen  in  which  the  tabes  have  been  injected  with 
ooloriog  matter. 

Down  the  middle  of  each  ray  a  brown  lire. — ^the  radial 
nerve  (Fig.  3,/), — will  be  seen  on  most  of  the  specimens 
ending  at  the  tip  of  the  ray  in  an  eye.  In  life  the  five 
little  red  eyes  filled  the  tiny  hollows  at  the  end  of  the  rays. 

The  central  part  of  the  nervoos  system,  as  of  the  water-system, 
is  a  cord  around  the  mouth,  occasionally  seen  on  the  dried  animals. 
The  eyes  of  the  star-fish  see  light  only,  as  oars  do  when  the  lida  are 
closed. 

The  star-fish  has  also  the  sense  of  smell.  After  one 
has  been  kept  without  food  for  several  days,  it  can  be  led 
around  the  tank  after  a  piece  of  shell-fish  held  just  in 
front  of  it  with  a  pair  of  forceps,  precisely  like  a  hungry 
dog  after  a  bone. 


30  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

Lesson  III. 

The  hard  parts  of  the  back  ware  noted. — th^)  apines,  the  forks, 
and  the  beams  of  the  skeleton, — now  those  of  the  month  side  are 
to  be  examined. 

On  the  cross-section  of  each  ray  (Fig.  1)  may  be  seen 
two  rows  of  narrow  plates  (Fig.  3,  a)  forming  the  roof 
of  the  groove,  with  small  openings  between  them 
through  which  the  tube-feet  pass.  These  are  the  per- 
forated plates.  On  each  side  of  these  is  a  single  row 
of  irregularly  shaped,  somewhat  thickened  plates  (Fig. 
3,  b),  called  in  distinction  from  the  others,  unperforated 
plates.  On  the  alcoholic  specimens  we  observe  that 
the  slender  spines  borne  on  these  nlates  are  movable, 
the  only  movable  ones,  in  fact,  on  the  body  of  the  star- 
fish. 

Inside  the  rays  are  the  brovn  masses  of  the  liver  and  the  grape- 
likn  clnaters  of  the  ovaries.  The  eggs  pass  oat  at  minute  openings, 
difficalt  to  find,  in  the  angles  of  the  rays. 

Not  only  is  the  shape  of  the  body  radiate,  bnt  all  the  organs 
show  a  radiate  arrangement.  From  the  central  water-system  ran 
five  radial  water-tabes ;  from  the  stomach  a  lobe  to  each  ray  ;  liver- 
lobes  are  foand  in  each  ;  the  oral  nerve- cord  sends  ont  five 
branches,  and  each  ray  ends  in  an  eye.  The  attention  of  the 
class  may  be  drawn  to  as  many  of  these  points  as  they  have  ob- 
served, in  order  that  they  may  get  the  idea  of  the  symmetrical 
arrangement  of  parts  aronnd  the  common  center. 

Some  of  the  specimens  will  show  the  convenient  power 
that  the  star-fish  has  of  replacing  lost  rays  (Fig.  5).  He 
seems  not  to  mind  the  loss  of  two,  three,  or  even  four,  at 
a  time,  and  grows  them  again  with  wonderful  rapidity 
More  than  this,  if  he  is  torn  in  pieces,  and  the  parts 
thrown  into  the  sea,  each  ray  will  become  a  star-fish. 


The  S/ar-Fis/i. 


31 


This  star  fish  with  the  round  disk 
and  the  snaky  arms  is  the  brittle- 
star  (Fig.  6).  Though  found  in 
abundance  on  our  coast,  he  hides  him- 
self away  under  rocks  and  seaweeds, 
so  that  he  is  rarely  seen  by  most 
people.  "  Catch  me  if  you  can,"  he 
seems  to  say,  for  not  only  does  he 
wriggle  away  at  a  speed  that  is  the 
greatest  contrast  to  the  snail's  pace  of 
the  common  star-fish,  but  if  we  do 
seize  one  long  ray,  he  coolly  drops  it 
off,  and  disappears  with  the  other 
four.  Often  the  only  way  to  secure 
a  perfect  one  is  by  dipping  it  up  in 
a  quantity  of  water  with  the  sea- 
weed on  which  it  lies. 


Fig  5.. 


Fig    6 


The  rays  of  the  brittle-star  are  solid,  the  ambnlaoral  plates,— 
which  oorreepond  to  the  perforated  plates  of  the  star-fish, — being 
on  the  inside  and  covered  by  a  row  of  extra  plates,  so  that  the 
organs  of  the  body  most  needs  be  all  in  the  disk.     Though  his 


32  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

tabe-feet  end  in  points,  he  does  not  miss  the  snokers,  but  movea 
about  by  means  of  his  long,  mnscalar  rays.  In  order  to  move 
rapidly  he  nses  two  of  his  opposite  arms  with  a  motion  like  swim- 
ming, leaping  about  two  inches  at  each  stroke. 

A  small,  beantifally  colored  star-fish,  also  fonnd  on  the  New 
England  coast,  has  five  tappring  rays  with  only  two  rows  of  tabe- 
feet  on  each.     This  species  carries  its  eggs  around  the  mouth. 

The  common  star-fish  south  of  Long  Island  Sound  is  green  or 
brown,  the  one  naaally  found  north  of  that  sound  is  red  or  purple. 


THE    SEA-URCHIN. 


Lesson   I. 

Not  the  little  ones  usnally  seen  on  the  shore  after  a  storm  or  in 
the  tide-pools,  bat  large  ones  that  have  been  taken  from  their 
hiding  places  under  stones  below  low-water  mark.  The  best  prep- 
arations for  study  are  made  by  drying  them  with  the  spines  on,  and 
then  sawing  them  in  two  horizontally.  Besides  these  every  shell 
and  piece  of  a  shell  without  the  spines  will  be  of  use.  Perfectly 
bleached  shells  are  often  cast  up  on  the  shore  by  the  waves,  but  if 
enough  of  these  cannot  be  found,  the  spines  may  be  removed  by 
placing  them  for  a  time  in  a  dilute  solution  of  potash,  then  clean- 
ing them  with  a  tooth-brush.  Care  must  be  taken  not  to  leave 
them  in  the  potash  too  long,  or  it  will  cause  the  plates  to  drop 
apart.  It  will  add  greatly  to  the  lesson  if  the  teacher  can  also  have 
a  few  large  sea-nrchins  in  alcohol,  and  a  Mediterranean  Echinus, 
or  sea-egg,  either  with  or  without  the  spines. 

The  sea-urchin  (Fig  1)  is  also  sometimes  called  the 
sea-egg.  It  is  a  green  or  purple  ball.  It  is  not  a  perfect 
ball,  but  flattened  on  both  siflec,  more  so  on  the  mouth 
side  than  on  the  back.  It  is  bristling  all  over  like  a 
small  hedgehog  with  spines  longer  than  those  of  the 
star-fish. 

We  try  the  spines  on  the  alcoholic  specimens  and  find  them 
movable.  They  are  held  to  the  shell  by  tiny  muscles.  We  care- 
fully pull  off  a  large  spine,  and  see  the  knob  upon  the  shell  and 
the  socket  in  the  base  of  the  spine  that  fits  over  the  knob,  thns 
making  a  ball-and-socket  joint. 

We  know  the  mouth  on  the  under  side  (Fig.  2)  by  its 
little  star  made  of  the  five  white  teeth.  Though  the 
teeth  appear  small  when  seen  from  the  outside,  on  exam- 
ining them  from  the  inside  we  find  that  with  the  jaws 


34 


Let^sons  in  Zoology 


and  muscles  attached  to  them  they  form  a  powerful  ap- 
paratus called  the  lantern.  Inside  the  sht-l  s  from  which 
the  lantern  has  been  removed,  can  be  seen  five  projections 
to  which  some  of  these  muscles  were  attached.  With  its 
teeth,  which  are  constantly  growing  at  the  root  as  they 
are  worn  away  at  the  tip,  the  sea-urchin  scrapes  seaweeds 
off  the  rocks,  as  it  walks  about  mouth  downward,  and  it 
also  feeds  upon  dead  fish. 


Fig   1. 

The  sea-urchin  walks  with  tube-feet,  as  the  star-fish 
does,  but  its  suckers  are  smaller  and  more  nearly  the 
color  of  the  spines.  If  we  have  only  dried  specimens,  in 
order  to  see  the  tube-feet  we  must  look  steadily  and  pa- 
tiently on  the  under  tide  of  the  shell.  Children  will  see, 
after  a  little  thought,  that  they  are  largest  on  this  side 
because  they  are  used  most  in  walking.     But  how  can  the 


The  Sea  -  Urchin. 


35 


Bearorchia  walk  oa  the  saukers,  while  the  spines  reach  out 
so  far  beyond  them  ?  To  understand  this  and  to  know 
how  beautiful  the  little  creature  really  is,  we  ought  to 
have  a  living  one  in  a  glass  dish  or  jar  of  sea  water,  and 
watch  it  press  out  its  tube-feet  till  they  are  waving  on 
every  side,  far  beyond  the   spines,  like  threads  of  spun 


Fig    2. 


FiO.  3. 


glass.  It  stretches  them  out  to  their  fullest  extent,  fast- 
ens the  suckers,  then  pulls  the  body  up  to  them.  We 
touch  it,  and  instantly  every  one  is  drawn  safely  in  be- 
hind the  barrier  of  sentinel  spines. 

Since  the  tube-feet  of  the  sea-urchin  are  forced  out  in 
the  same  way  as  those  of  the  star-fish,  we  see  the  need  of 
a  sieve  to  filter  the  water  that  does  this  work.  We  find 
it,  a  five-sided,  spongy  body  (Fig.  3,  a),  at  one  side  of 
the  little  di^k  in  the  center  of  the  back. 


36  Lessons  in  Zoology. 


Lesson   II. 

In  the  last  lesson  we  have  examined  the  spines,  have  found  the 
month  with  its  lantern,  the  tube-feet  and  the  sieve,  and  have  learned 
how  the  tube-feet  can  be  extended  beyond  the  spines.  We  begin 
with  a  review  of  these  points. 

The  spines  protect  the  sea-urchin  against  its  enemiei<, 
and  are  sometimes  used  in  walking.  If  one  is  taken  out 
of  the  water  and  put  on  a  table,  it  will  try  to  walk  on  its 
spines. 

Some  species  habitually  use  the  spines  in  this  way.  A  pentago- 
nal sea-urchin  that  lives  on  coral  reefs,  covers  itself  with  bits  of 
seaweed  and  pebbles,  holdiug  them  on  with  its  tube  feet,  so  that 
but  little  of  iru  body  is  exposed,  while  walking  on  its  spines.  Onr 
common  sea-urchin  often  hides  under  a  covering  of  sand  and  grave'. 

On  alcoholic  specimens,  and  on  the  under  side  of  large, 
well-preserved  dried  ones,  children  will  see  that  the  tube- 
feet  are  arranged  in  five  double  rows,  and  later  in  the 
lesson  will  connect  this  fact  with  the  arrangement  of  the 
plates  of  the  shell.  The  forks  can  be  best  seen  on  the 
disk  of  tough  skin  around  the  mouth,  where  they  form  a 
circle.  They  are  larger  than  those  of  the  star-fish,  three- 
pronged,  and  mounted  on  handles  (Fig.  4).     They  aie 

scattered  everywhere  among 
the  spines,  but  largest  around 
the  mouth.  It  has  been 
found  by  experiment  that 
they  will  grasp  a  frond  of 
seaweed  waving  lightly  over  them  in  the  water,  and  hold 
it  like  so  many  tiny  forceps  till  the  suckers  have  had  time 
to  fix  themselves  upon  it. 

The  remainder  of  this  lesson  is  the  most  difficult  part  of  the 
work  on  the  sea-urchin,  and  should  be  condnctf  d  by  the  teacher 
with  the  greatest  patience  and  care.     Though  '*  Make  baste  slowly  " 


The  Sea  -  Urchin.  37 

shonld  always  be  the  motto  in  science  lessons,  any  attempt  at  haste 
will  be  especially  fatal  here. 

Taking  the  bare  shells  we  first  see  that  they  are  com- 
posed of  many  parts  called  plates.  As  we  hold  them  up 
to  the  light  and  look  inside,  we  discover  a  great  many 
small  openings  in  them,  like  fine  pin-holes.  There  are 
ten  rows  of  these  openings,  or  five  double  rows,  and  sharp 
eyes  will  see  that  there  are  also  five  doable  rows  of  small 
plates  through  which  these  holes  pass.  These  are  the 
perforated  plates,  and  the  holes  are  for  the  tube-feet,  as 
in  the  star-fish.  On  each  side  of  a  double  row  of  small 
plates  is  a  double  row  of  large  plates  without  openings. 
These  we  call  the  unperf orated  plates,  and  we  find  five 
double  rows  of  these  also.  We  remember  that  there  are 
ten  rows  of  perforated  plates  in  the  star-fish,  also,  as  well 
as  ten  rows  of  unperforated  plates. 

We  now  find  an  opening  in  the  sieve,  and  we  observe 
that  the  sieve  is  at  the  end  of  two  rows  of  large  plates. 
From  the  inside  of  the  shell  four  more  openings  can  be 
seen  at  the  end  of  the  other  doable  rows  of  large  plates. 
These  are  the  openings  through  which  the  eggs  pass  out 
into  the  water.  The  egg-openings  are  in  little  plates 
shaped  somewhat  like  the  sieve,  and  really  five  in  number 
since  the  sieve  is  on  one  of  them. 

Five  more  tiny  holes  alternate  with  the  egg- openings, 
and  stand  at  the  end  of  every  two  rows  of  perforated 
plates.  These  are  eye-openings,  and  are  in  very  small 
plates  called  eye-plates.  The  young  sea-urchin  has  five 
eyes  in  these  places,  but  when  fully  grown  he  has  only 
these  orifices,  through  each  of  which  a  tube-foot  passes 
out.  Inside  the  circle  of  eye-plates  and  egg-plates  is  a 
little  disk  of  tough  skin  containing  minute  plates. 


38  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

Both  eg^- plates  and  eye-plates  are  diffionlt  to  make  out  clearly, 
except  on  large  specimens  of  the  common  sea- egg,  but  both 
are  shown  beaatifnlly  on   the   large  Mediterranean  sea-archin. 

Each  child  should  now  draw  such  la  section  of  the 
shell  as  is  represented  in  Fig.  3,  consisting  of  two  rows 
of  perforated  plates  with  one  row  of  large  plates  on  each 
side  of  them,  and  the  central  disk  surrounded  by  its 
circle  of  plates. 


Lesson  III. 

When  we  go  to  the  seashore,  where  shall  we  look  for 
star- fishes  ? 

In  tide-pools.  On  the  rocks  under  water.  On  oyster 
and  mussel  beds. 

Where  shall  we  find  sea-urchins  ? 
In  tide-pools.      On   rocks   under  water.      Sometimes 
hidden  under  stones  and  gravel  in  the  water. 

What  did  we  find  on  the  star-fish  ? 
Short  spines.     A  sieve.     Tube-feet.      A  mouth.     Five 
eyes.     Five  nerves.     Tiny  specks  of  forks. 

What  have  we  found  on  the  sea-urchin  ? 

Long  spines  that  will  move.  Tube -feet.  A  sieve.  A 
lantern.  Five  teeth.  Lots  of  forks  with  handles.  Five 
holes  where  the  sea-urchin  had  eyes  when  it  was  young. 
Rows  of  small  plates  with  holes  in  them.  Rows  of  large 
plates. 

How  many  rows  of  each  ? 
Ten  rows  of  each. 


The  Sta-  Urchin.  39 

What  plates  did  we  find  on  the  star-fish  ? 

Plates  that  made  a  network  on  the  back.  Two  rows 
of  perforated  plates  on  each  arm.  One  row  of  unper- 
forated  plates  on  each  side  of  the  perforated  ones. 

What  is  the  use  of  the  holes  between  the  perforated 
plates  of  the  star-fish  ? 

The  tube-feet  pass  through  them. 

How  are  the  rows  of  plates  arranged  in  the  sea-urchin  ? 
First  there  are  two  rows  of  large  plates,  then  two  rows 
of  small  plates. 

How  many  rows  in  all? 
Ten  rows  of  each  kind. 

Where  are  the  eye-openings  ? 

At  the  end  of  the  rows  of  small  plates.  At  the  end  of 
the  perforated  plates.  At  the  end  of  the  plates  that  the 
tube-feet  come  out  through. 

Where  are  the  eyes  of  the  star-fish  ? 
At  the  point  of  each  ray. 

Are  they  at  the  end  of  any  rows  of  plates  ? 
Yes,  at  the  end  of  the  rows  of  perforated  plates. 

And  where  are  they  in  the  sea-urchin  ? 

At  the  end  of  the  rows  of  perforated  plates,  too. 

Where  are  the  egg-openings  ? 

At  the  end  of  the  rows  of  large  plates. 

But  we  have  not  found  any  nerves,  some  child  suggests. 
No  ;  for  the  sea-urchin  has  them  safely  tucked  away  on 
tiie  inside  of  its  shell. 


40 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


Fig.  5  is  a  diagrtim  rfpiesentin^  a  out  throngh  a  Bea-nrohtn  ;  s  is 
the  sieve,  or  madreporic  body,  and  c  the  tuhn  Ipadmgr  from  it  to  tlie 
ring  around  the  mouth,  from  which 
branch  the  five  radial  water-tubes 
(/").  Each  of  these  radial  water- 
tubes  connects  with  the  sacs  [g)  of 
the  tube-feet  and  ends  in  a  single 
tube-foot  (:r),  which  passes  out 
through  an  eye- openiDg.  The  black 
line  outside  of  /  ia  a  radial  nerve, 
aUo  continuous  with  a  cord  around 
the  month.  The  out  ends  of  the 
intestine  are  seen  at  k:  the  ovaries 
at  /;  the  branchial  tufts  at  m  ;  at  h, 
the  teeth;  and  at  i,  some  of  the 
muscles  that  move  the  jaws ;  6  is  a 
spine ;  e,  a  plate  of  the  shell ;  and  n,  one  of  the  forks,  or  pedi- 
cel larisB. 


FiQ.  6. 


If  any  of  the  children  have  sand-dollars  (Fig.  6)  or 

sand-cakes,  as  they  are 
often  called,  they  will  be 
delighted  to  discover  that 
they  are  simply  flattened 
sea-urchins.  Perfect  ones 
are  very  pretty,  with  their 
mouse-colored  covering  of 
tiny  spines,  and  the  bare 
shells  show  the  different 
rows  of  plates  and  the 
mouth  on  the  under  side. 
The  tube-feet  project  from 
perforated  plates,  and  form  the  beautiful  star  on  the  back 
by  expanding  into  gill-like  appendages.  This  sea-urchin 
lives  partly  buried  in  the  wet  sand  of  our  shores  and  of 
the  shallow  waters. 


KlG    6. 


THE   CLAM. 


Lesson  I. 

The  oommon  soft-shelled  clam  of  the  New  England  coast  (Fig. 
1)  is  the  one  chosen  for  these  lessons,  bat  the  fresh-water  clam 
found  everywhere  inland  can  be  used  equally  well.  Large  ones 
shonld  be  obtained,  and  if  kept  alive  in  the  schoolroom  ia  a  jar  of 
sea-water  for  a  few  days  before  the  lesson,  the  children's  observa- 
tions will  form  an  excellent  preparation  for  class  study.  The  long, 
dark  siphon,  often  incorrectly  called  the  head,  will  be  extended 
with  the  two  fringed  openings  plainly  showing,  but  will  be  at  ocoe 
drawn  in  if  the  shell  is  touched.     If  some  very  finely  powdered  in- 


Fig.  1. 

digo  is  dropped  into  the  water,  the  particles  will  enter  at  the  lower 
opening  and  pass  out  at  the  upper  one.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
Talves  of  the  shell  are  connected  by  a  dark  skin  that  passes  from 
one  to  the  other,  and  is  unbroken  except  by  an  opening  near  the 
broad  end  of  the  ehell,  where  the  foot  is  protruded.  If  a  living 
fresh-water  clam  is  kept  in  a  jar  with  two  or  three  inches  of  sand 
in  the  bottom,  it  will  assume  its  natural  position,  with  its  foot  ex- 
tended acd  its  body  partly  buried  in  the  sand  (Fig.  2).  With 
this  form  particles  of  indigo  can  be  even  more  plainly  seen  passing 
in  and  out  of  the  large  siphonal  openings. 

If  the  clams  are  killed  by  putting  them  into  warm  water  the  day 
before  the  lesson,  the  soft  parts  can  easily  be  removed  without 
breaking  the  ligament  at  the  hicge,  while  the  two  valves  are  still 


42  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

held  together.  The  shells  thus  prepared  can  be  pnt  into  the  hands 
of  yoang  children,  who  can  afterwards  see  the  principal  soft  parts, 
Bach  aa  the  mantle,  the  gUla,  and  the  foot,  from  the  teacher's 
specimen. 

The  clam  shell  consists  of  two  valves,  which  are  con- 
vex on  one  long  edge  and  nearly  straight  on  the  other, 
and  which  meet  at  a  "  rounded  point,"  called  the  beak. 
It  is  broad  at  one  end  and  narrower  at  the  other,  but 
both  valves  are  alike  in  size  and  shape.  To  find  the 
right  and  left  valves  we  hold  the  shell  with  the  beak  up- 
permost and  the  narrow  end  pointing  toward  us,  when 
the  right  valve  will  be  on  our  own  right  side,  and  the 
left  valve  on  our  left. 

The  surface  of  the  valves  is  not  smooth,  but  roughened 
by  many  curved  lines.  Beginning  at  the  beak  and 
tracing  all  the  lines  between  this  point  and  the  convex 
edge  of  the  shell,  we  find  that  they  all  start  at  the  upper 
side  of  a  valve  and  pass  around  to  the  upper  side  again. 
Children  will  quickly  see  that  the  baby  clam  could  have 
had  but  few  of  these  lines,  and  that  more  have  been 
added  as  it  grew,  hence  these  are  lines  of  growth.  Now 
they  will  be  interested  in  tracing  these  back  from  the 
outer  edge  to  the  beak,  and  seeing  that  this  is  the  shell 
of  the  baby  clam  and  the  oldest  part  of  the  whole  shell. 
A  brown,  horny  skin  covers  the  lower  part  of  the  valves, 
but  is  worn  away  near  the  beak. 

A  few  of  the  thickest  shells  have  been  roasted  on  a  bed  of  glow- 
ing coals,  and  pieces  of  them  are  now  distribated  to  the  class. 

The  roasted  shells  are  white  and  crumble  easily.  The 
lines  of  growth  are  the  edges  of  layers  of  lime,  which 
can  now  be  peeled  o£E.  The  shells  are  not  so  heavy  as 
they  were  before. 

Since  the  shells  weigh  less  after  the  roasting,  it  is  evident  that 
some  part  of  them  has  been  barned  away.     To  discover  what  was 


The  Clam.  43 

loet,  we  snepend  one  or  two  shells  in  a  dilate   solation   of  soetie, 
or  hydrochloric  acid,  which  will  remove  the  lime. 

The  valves  are  held  together  by  a  hinge  at  the  beak. 
On  the  inside  of  the  hinge  is  a  brown,  horny  substance, 
the  ligament.  By  slowly  opening  and  closing  the  shell 
several  times,  we  discover  that  the  ligament  (Fig.  3,  I)  is 


.-I 


Fig.  2.  Fig.  3. 

compressed  when  the  shell  is  closed  (Fig-  3),  but,  being 
elastic,  it  forces  the  valves  apart  when  the  pressure  is 
removed.  On  the  left  valve  is  a  small  shell-like  tooth, 
and  a  corresponding  socket  on  the  right  one. 

The  class  now  draw  the  oatside  of   one  valve,  writing  on  the 
drawing  the  names  of  all  the  parts  they  have  seen. 

Fig.  3,  section  through  a  clam-shell ;  /,  the  ligament ;  m,  one  of 
the  muscles  that  draw  the  valves  together. 


Lesson  II. 

In  addition  to  the  shells  already  studied,  children  who  are  old 
enough  may  have  freshly  killed  clams  in  which  only  the  adductor 
muscles  have  been  cut.  Specimens  put  into  warm  water  the  day 
before  the  lesson,  will  die  with  Riphon  extended.  The  teacher 
needs  also  a  living  clam. 

We  first  examine  the  shells  that  were  left  in  dilute  acid  : 

These  shells  are  soft.  They  will  bend  easily.  There 
is  no  lime  in  them,  but  they  seem  to  be  made  of  flesh. 
C3am  shells  are  made  of  layers  of  flesh  and  layers  of  lime. 

We  remove  the  left  valve  now  and  examine  the  inside  : 


44  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

It  is  whiter  and  smoother  than  the  outside.  It  has  a 
line  around  it  near  the  edge.  It  has  a  broad  mark  near 
the  narrow  end  and  another  near  the  broad  end  of  the 
valve  (Fig.  4).  It  has  a  deep  curve  between  the  line  and 
one  broad  mark. 

One  child  takes  the  living  clam  and  finds  he  cannot 
open  its  valves.  The  teacher  then  holds  up  a  dead  clam 
in  which  the  muscles  have  not  been  cut,  and  after  care- 
fully pushing  back  the  fleshy  bag  that  adheres  closely  to 
the  edges  of  the  shell,  she  severs  both  mascles.  The 
children  see  that  when  they  are  cut,  the  valves  come  apart 
everywhere,  except  at  the  beak.  One  child  now  lays  the 
valve  back  over  the  body  of 
the  clam,  and  finds  that  the 
two  broad  marks  on  the  inside 
(Fig.  1,  aa  and  pa)  exactly 
cover  two  firm,  white  organs, 
which  are  the  muscles  that  held 
the   valves   together.      In   this  '''^  * 

way   see    that  the   marks    are    the   impressions   of   the 
muscles,  and  were  made  by  them. 

The  same  process  shows  us  that  the  line  near  the  edge 
was  made  by  the  thick,  muscular  part  of  the  fleshy  bag, 
or  mantle,  that  covers  the  clam,  while  the  deep  curve,  or 
sinus  (Fig.  4),  is  the  impression  of  the  siphon  muscles. 

We  have  noticed  that  the  dark  skin  covering  the  mar- 
gins of  the  shell,  seems  to  be  connected  with  the  mantle, 
and,  indeed,  it  is  formed  by  the  mantle  border.  This 
same  border  of  the  clam's  cloak  is  a  hard  worker,  con- 
stantly laying  down  new  deposits  of  lime  around  the  edges 
of  the  shell.  The  mantle  is  closed  except  at  the  siphon 
and  the  foot  openings. 

After  finding  the  little  furrow  in  the  lower  edge  of  the 
mantle  and  cutting  through  it  from  the  siphon  to  the  for- 


Ihe  Clam.  46 

ward  eud  of  the  shell,  we  lay  the  mantle  back,  as  repre- 
sented in  Figure  5.     Just  under  the  mantle  lie  two  of  the 
gills   (Fig.  5,  a),  two  delicate,   fluted  ruffles,  and   on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  body  are  two  more.     At  the  forward 
end  of  the  body  are   two  pairs  of   delicate  flaps,  the  palpi 

(Fig.  5,  p),  and  be- 
tween  these  is  the 
mouth   (m).      The 
foot  (/)  is  a  curious 
little  lump  of  mus- 
0-'"*=^======^  cle,     easily    found, 

^^  because  there  is  but 

one.  Now  we  see  how  the  clam  can  burrow  in  the  mud, 
and  why  he  needs  such  a  long  siphon  to  reach  up  to  the 
water,  while  he  is  snugly  hidden  in  his  hole. 

So  mach  the  yoangest  children  oftn  see  from  the  teacher's  speo- 
imen.  They  should  now  draw  the  inside  of  one  yalve,  and  mark 
on  it  the  position  of  the  gills,  the  siphon,  the  foot,  and  the  month, 
as  well  as  the  impressions  on  the  shell.  If  there  is  time,  older  chil- 
dren, each  with  a  clam  in  a  small  dish  of  water,  can  go  fnrther. 

A  probe  passed  into  the  lower  opening  of  the  siphon,  enters  the 
bndy  cavity  jnat  below  the  giUs.  Water  coming  in  at  this  tube  is 
strained  by  the  waving  hairs  on  the  gills,  then  passes  throoerh  the 
gills,  giving  np  its  oxygen  to  the  blood  on  the  way,  and  one  by  the 
upper  tabe  of  the  siphon.  At  the  same  time  by  the  motion  of  the 
hairs,  or  cilia,  tiny  plants  and  animals  in  the  water  are  gathered 
into  threads  and  swept  down  to  a  channel  on  the  lower  edge  of  the 
gills,  along  which  they  move  forward  to  the  month.  By  lifting 
the  palpi  a  probe  can  be  passed  into  the  month. 

To  see  the  heart,  cnt  away  the  mantle  from  the  top  of  the  gills, 
being  very  careful  not  to  cut  anything  else.  In  a  little  cavity  jast 
behind  the  beak  lies  the  heart,  with  the  dark  tube  of  the  intestine 
passing  through  the  ventricle.  The  somewhat  fan-shaped  auricles, 
one  on  each  side  of  the  ventricle,  are  not  easily  found  except  by  one 
skilled  in  dissection. 

To  be  seen  distinctly,  all  these  flashy  parta  moat  be  floated  oat 
under  water. 


46  Lessons  in  Zoology. 


Lesson   III. 

The  last  two  leesons  shoold  be  thoroaghly  reviewed  by  the  aid  of 
the  sheila  and  a  blackboard  sketch  on  which  the  orgfans  can  be 
located  as  they  are  described  by  the  children. 

It  will  add  interest  to  the  talk  aboat  the  borrowing  habits  of  the 
^.^  clam,  if  the  teacher  can  show 

^'L—^^fr^-Z^xj^^J^^ff^^^  tg-    *    razor -shell  (Fig.  6),   and 

^  ^     explain  that  this  kind  of  clam 

'^^^-  6-  barrows  so  fast  with  its  pcw- 

erftil  foot  that  one  can  head  it  oflf  only  by  a   sadden  oblique  cut 

with  the  spade. 

Soath  of  New  York  the 
roand  clam,  or  qaahog 
(Pig.  7),  is  the  common 
one  in  the  market,  and 
will  be  the  most  conven- 
ient type  for  these  les- 
sons. On  sandy  shores 
this  barrows  bat  little  be- 
low the  surface,  often  even 
crawling    about    with    its  ^^ 

shisll  partly  exposed.     This  habit  is  the  explanation  of  the  short 
siphon  tabes.     It  is  taken  in  maddy  creeks  by  long  tong^  or  rakes. 

The  large,  rounded  shell  of  this  clam,  with  its  prom- 
inent beak,  has  the  hinge  ligament  on  the  outside.  Chil- 
dren will  see,  by  carefully  opening  and  shutting  it,  that 
the  ligament  is  stretched  when  the  shell  is  closed,  and  so 
opens  the  shell  when  it  contracts  to  its  natural  size. 

The  foot  and  mantle  edges  are  white,  the  siphon  tubes 
yellowish  or  brownish  orange,  mottled  toward  the  end  with 
dark  brown  or  opaque  white,  and  are  separated  a  little  at 
the  end.  The  mantle  lobes  are  separate  and  ruffled  at 
the  edges.  The  elam  easily  burrows  when  necessary,  by 
means  of  its  large  foot  with  a  broad,  thin  edge,  which  can 


The  Clam.  47 

be  protruded  from  any  part  of  the  lower  side  through  the 
large  opening  in  the  mantle. 

Id  many  parts  of  the  coantry  the  fresh-water  olam  will  be  the  one 
most  easily  obtained.  The  manner  of  keepiup;  it  in  the  schoolroom 
has  already  been  described. 

A  horny  brown  skin  sometimes  covers  the  whole  shell 
of  the  fresh-water  clam,  but  is  usually  worn  off  near  the 
beak  by  the  action  of  acids  in  the  water. 

Fig.  2  shows  the  position  of  oae  of  these  clams  in  crawling,  the 
line  at  s  representing  the  bottom  of  a  lake  or  river,  above  which  is 
water. 

The  beak  is  far  forward,  and  the  long  hinge  ligament, 
being  on  the  outside,  acts  as  in  the  quahog,  like  a  spring 
to  open  the  shell.     On  the  inside  of  the  shell  are  several 


Fig.  8 

hinge-teeth,  if  the  clam  is  a  Uuio,  generally  two  wedge- 
shaped  teeth  on  the  left  valve  and  one  on  the  right,  while 
back  of  these  the  right  valve  bears  one  long  lateral  tooth 
and  the  left  bears  two. 

In  Fig.  8  two  of  the  wedge-shaped,  or  cardinal  teeth  are  shown 
on  a  right  valve  at  c,  and  the  lateral  tooth  at  /. 

The  pearly  lining  of  this  shell  is  the  same  as  that  which 
forms  the  mother-of-pearl  of  the  pearl  oyster.  When  this 
deposit  is  increased  by  a  particle  of  sand  or  some  small 
object  that  has  worked  its  way  in  between  the  mantle  and 
the  shell,  an  imperfect  pearl  is  formed.     Since  the  clam 


48  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

cannot  expel  an  intruder,  he  takes  this  way  of  coveiing  it 
up  and  thus  freeing  himself  from  the  irritation  it  caused. 
Near  the  impressions  of  the  adductor  muscles  (Fig.  8, 
aa  and  pa)  are  two  smaller  prints  {ap  and  pp)  made  by 
the  muscles  which  move  the  foot.  The  pallial  line  (jo) 
runs  from  the  anterior  to  the  posterior  adductor,  but  with- 
out any  sinus.  This  lack  is  explained  when  we  see  that 
this  clam,  the  back  part  of  whose  body  is  never  buried  in 
the  sand,  has  no  long,  muscular  siphon,  because  it  needx 
none.  The  mantle,  open  everywhere  else,  is  simply  united 
enough  at  the  biphon  to  make  two  very  short  tubes,  which 
are  always  in  the  water. 

The  parts  of  the  body  hare  the  same  relative  position  as  in  the 
salt-water  clam,  bat  the  palpi,  instead  of  hanging  freely,  are  simple 
folds. 


THE   OYSTER. 


Lesson  I. 

Oar  oysters,  vhioh  are  the  largest  ones  to  be  had,  will  need  at 
least  twenty-fonr  hoars  in  warm  water  to  kill  them,  even  if  a  hole 
large  enough  to  admit  the  water  has  been  nicked  in  the  edge  of 
each  one.  They  are  sponged  to  remove  the  dirt,  without  taking 
off  the  brown  skin.  Roasted  and  decalcified  shells  are  on  hand,  too, 
to  show  the  layers  of  lime  and  fleeh.  Before  the  lesson,  the  large 
moBole  should  be  cut  between  the  lower  valve  and  the  body  of  the 
oyster.  If  we  remove  the  lower  valve,  the  knife  will  follow  the 
curve  of  the  shell,  and  will  not  be  so  likely  to  injure  the  soft  parts. 
The  teacher  has  an  oyster  with  the  muscle  still  uncut. 

The  oyster  shell  has  two  valves,  one  larger  and  thicker 
than  the  other.  It  is  convex  on  one  long  edge,  and  con- 
cave or  nearly  straight  on  the  other.  It  is  broad  at  one 
end,  and  the  beak  is  at  the  opposite  narrow  end.  The 
deposits  of  lime  are  much  more  uneven  than  on  the  clam 
shell,  and  the  shell  is  strongly  roughened  along  the  lines 
of  growth.  One  shell  has  a  piece  of  rock  on  the  thick 
valve,  another  has  a  young  oyster  fastened  to  it,  and  a 
third  has  a  piece  split  off  from  its  large  valve.  These  teach 
us  that  the  oyster  was  attached  to  some  object  by  tbe 
large,  thick  valve,  which  is  therefore  the  lower  valve. 
The  upper  valve  is  smaller  and  thinner  than  the  lower 
one.  To  find  the  right  and  left  valves,  after  holding  a 
clam  shell  in  the  proper  position,  we  hold  the  oyster  shell 
in  the  same  way,  with  the  beak  pointing  away  from  us 
and  the  concave  side  uppermost.  Then  the  right  valve 
is  on  our  right  side,  and  the  left  valve  on  our  left. 

Various  substances  are  found  on  the  outside  of  the  shell.  S^ime- 
thing  red  proves  to  be  a  bit  of  red  sponge.     Twisted  white  tubea 


50  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

were  made  by  tabe-bailding  worms.  Some  little  mata  with  pin- 
holes in  them  are  the  Bknletons  of  tiny  oreatares,  one  of  which  lived 
in  each  hole,  or  cell.  Finally,  some  of  the  shells  have  been  par- 
tially riddled  bv  the  boring  sponge,  which  makes  its  tannels  by  dis- 
solving away  the  lime. 

The  teacher  now  onts  the  mnscle  in  her  oyster,  and  as  the  chil- 
dren follow  the  course  of  the  knife  in  her  hand,  they  see  that  there 
IB  bnt  one  mnscle,  and  that  after  catting  that,  the  shell  may  be 
opened  by  breaking  the  ligament. 

The  hinge  is  not  exactly  at  the  beak,  but  a  little  dis- 
tacce  from  it,  and  between  the  two  is  a  widening  groove 


containing  some  dried  remains 
of  ligament  (Fig.  1,  I).  In 
the  young  oyster  the  valves 
must  have  been  united  at  the 
beak,  so  the  groove  is  the 
downward  path  of  the  liga- 
ment, as  the  oyster  grew.  The 
inside  of  the  valve  is  white. 
There  is  a  large,  dark  impres- 
sion near  the  center  of  the  valve.  A  line  extends  nearly 
around  the  shell,  not  far  from  the  margin.  This  is  the 
pallial  line.  By  laying  the  valve  back  over  the  oyster 
we  see  that  the  large  dark  spot  fits  over  the  muscle,  and 
hence  is  the  muscle  scar. 

This  scar  has  also  traveled  downward  from  the  beak.  To  show 
this,  file  the  outside  of  the  thick  v«lve  to  some  depth,  and  strike 
it  sharply  with  a  hammer,  wben  the  inner  layers  of  the  shell  will 
split  off,  disclosing  the  track  of  the  muscle. 

The  oyster  has  a  mantle  that  is  open  all  around.  The 
mantle  is  only  a  little  thickened  at  the  edges.  The  edges 
of  the  mantle  are  joined  together  in  just  one  place,  the 
bar  (Fig.  1,  i),  where  the  convex  and  the  concave  sides  of 
the  shell  meet.  In  front  of  the  muscle  is  a  clear  space  con 
taining  the  heart  (Fig.  1,  A),  a  little  whitish  bag.  Under 
the  edge  of  the  mantle  are  the  gills,  two  pairs,  as  in  the 


The  Oyster.  61 

clam.  Near  the  beak  on  the  convex  side  of  the  shell  are 
the  two  pairs  of  palpi,  and  between  them  the  mouth 
(Fig.l,w). 

Lesson  II. 

This  lesson,  which  is  mainly  a  review,  may  be  given  with  the  aid 
of  the  shells,  according  to  the  following  outline  : 

Tell  me  some  things  about  the  oyster  shell. 

It  has  two  valves.  One  valve  is  large  ard  convex,  the 
other  is  smaller  and  flat.  The  large  valve  was  fastened 
to  a  rock.  The  shell  is  broad  at  one  end  and  pointed  at 
the  other.  The  pointed  end  is  called  the  beak.  The 
outside  of  the  shell  is  very  rough,  and  the  lines  of  growth 
show  very  plainly.  There  is  a  hinge  not  far  from  the 
beak,  and  a  brown  ligament. 

What  can  you  tell  about  the  inside  of  the  shell  ? 

The  inside  of  the  shell  is  nearly  smooth.  It  is  white 
or  yellowish.  Near  the  middle  is  a  large  dark  place 
made  by  the  muscle.  There  is  a  pallial  line  near  the 
edge. 

The  shape  of  the  gills  and  the  palpi  may  also  sometimes  be  seen 
on  the  ineide  of  the  shell. 

In  what  ways  are  the  oyster  shell  and  the  clam  shell 
alike  ? 

Each  has  two  valves.  They  have  each  a  hinge  and  a 
ligament.  Each  has  a  beak-  They  have  a  pallial  line. 
Each  has  a  brown  skin  and  lints  r  f  growth  on  the  out- 
side.    They  are  made  of  layers  of  lime  and  flesh. 

In  what  ways  are  they  unlike  ? 

The  clam  shell  is  smoother  than  the  oyster  shell.  The 
oyster  shell  has  the  beak  at  one  end,  the  clam  shell  has  it 
on  top.  The  clam  shell  has  both  valves  of  the  same  size, 
but  the  oyster  has  one  large  valve  and  one  small  one. 


62  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

If  the  children  are  old  enough,  they  may  now  be  led  to  see  that 
while  the  left  eide  of  the  mantle  of  the  oyster  can  work  steadily  at 
shell-buildiDg,  the  right  side  is  constantly  interrupted  in  its  work  by 
the  opening  and  closing  of  the  valves,  and  that  this  accounts  for 
the  small  size  of  the  right  valve. 

Tell  me  in  what  ways  the  soft  parts  of  the  oyster  are 
like  those  of  the  clam. 

They  have  each  a  mantle  and  two  parrs  of  gills.  They 
have  a  mouth  and  two  pairs  of  palpi.     They  have  a  heart. 

Tell  me  some  things  that  are  unlike  in  the  soft  parts. 

The  oyster's  mantle  is  open,  and  the  clam's  is  closed. 
The  oyster  has  one  muscle,  and  the  clam  has  two.  The 
oyster's  heart  is  close  to  the  muscle,  and  the  clam's  is 
under  the  beak.  I  don't  pee  why  the  oyster  hasn't  any 
foot  nor  any  siphon  ? 


Piu.  2. 

Where  does  the  clam  live  ? 

He  buries  himself  in  the  mud.  He  digs  down  into  the 
mud  with  his  foot. 

What  use  has  he  for  his  siphon  ? 

He  reaches  up  to  the  water  with  it. 

Where  does  the  oyster  live  ? 

He  fastens  himself  to  a  rock.  I  see  ;  he  doesn't  need 
a  foot  because  he  doesn't  dig  in  the  mud,  and  he  doesn't 
need  a  siphon  because  his  whole  shell  is  in  the  water. 

Oysters  naturally  live  on  rocks  or  hard  substances  (Fig.  2), 
and  after  the  young  ones  swim  about  for  a  while,  they  die  if 
they  cannot  find  something  hard  to  grow  on,  but  they  fatten 


The  Oyster.  53 

better  for  the  market  on  muddy  bottoms,  where  there  are 
great  quantities  of  tiny  plants  for  their  food.  So  when 
they  are  half  grown,  the  oystermen  take  them  up  and 
"plant"  them  on  the  mud  in  some  warm  bay  or  at  the 
mouth  of  a  river,  where  they  are  left  for  a  year  or  two. 
But  thfy  never  dig  in  the  mud,  and  so  need  neither  foot 
nor  siphon. 

I  should  think  the  currents  of  water  would  get  mixed 
if  there  isn't  any  siphon. 

Is  there  any  place  where  the  edges  of  the  mantle  are 
joined  together  ? 

Yes,  at  the  bar. 

Then  what  is  the  use  of  the  bar  ? 

To  separate  the  two  currents  of  water. 

One  cnrrent  flows  in  nnder  the  convex  border  of  the  mantle, 
passing  over  and  throngh  the  gills,  and  carrying  food  to  the  month, 
the  other  flows  oat  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  bar,  as  indicated  by 
the  arrows  in  Frg.  1. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  clam  and  oyster,  so  with  other  mollnsks  the 
presence  or  absence  of  the  foot  and  siphoB  is  a  Bore  guide  to  the 
habits  of  the  animal. 


THE    SNAIL. 


Lessoit  I. 


The  French  edible  snail  is  the  one  we  nse  if  ve  can  get  it,  bnt  a 
lesson  can  be  given  on  any  good-sized  land  or  water  snail.  The 
slog  (Fig.  1),  which  is  simply  a  snail  withoat  any  external  shell, 


Fig.  1. 

can  be  obtained  at  any  season,  it  is  said,  by  setting  a  trap  for  it  in 
a  gteenhonse.  The  trap  is  a  box  of  moist  bran,  which  will  attract 
it  as  cheese  allares  mice.  Bat  the  sing  is  so  likely  to  be  repnlsive 
to  pupils  that  it  is  mnch  better  to  collect  snails  in  the  snmmer  aod 
keep  them  in  flower-pots  or  boxes  of  earth  covered  with  moas  to 
retain  the  moisture.  If  kept  in  a  cool  place,  they  will  hide  away 
under  the  moss,  close  np  their  shells  with  a  layer  of  mncns,  and 
sleep  comfortably  through  the  winter.  If  any  of  them  come  out 
occasionally  on  warm  days,  they  will  like  to  be  fed  with  some  wet 
bran  or  Indian  meal.  When  they  are  active,  the  box  should  be 
covered  with  a  wire  netting  to  prevent  their  escape  from  such 
narrow  quarters.  A  large  colony  has  been  kept  in  this  way  for 
more  than  a  y^ar,  fed  during  the  snmmer  upon  lettuce,  of  which 
they  are  very  fond. 

If  the  lesson  is  given  in  the  winter  and  the  snails  have  been  kept 
in  a  cool  place,  the  shells  will  be  closed  with  a  layer  of  muoos,  and 
we  can  study  them  before  the  snails  come  out. 

The  shape  of  the  shell  reminds  us  of  *•  a  horn  curled 
up."  It  has  often  made  five  or  six  turns  in  coiling,  and 
each  turn  is  called  a  whorl  (Fig.  2).  The  whorls  together 
form  the  spire,  and  the  lines  between  the  whorls  are  the 
sutures.  From  the  opening,  or  aperture,  we  trace  the 
whorls  up  to  the  apex,  where  we  find  the  little  bag-like 


The   Snail. 


55 


shell  that  covered  tlie  baby  snail.  Then  we  follow  the 
whorls  from  the  apex  to  the  aperture,  and  watch  them 
grow  larger  at  every  turn.  We  remember  the  lines  of 
growth  on  the  clam  and  oyster  shells,  and  decide  that  the 
delicate  lines  running  parallel  with  the  edge  of  the  aper- 
ture must  be  the  snail's  lines  of  growth. 


Fig.  2. 


FlU.  3. 


Fig.  3  ahowa  bow  a  shell  g^rovs.  ^  is  a  youDg  sbell ;  B,  the 
same,  fally  grown  ;  and  C  is  the  same  as  B,  bat  with  the  lines  of 
growth  represented  on  it.  The  dotted  lines  on  C  show  the  way  in 
which  it  grows,  a  representing  the  first  added  layer,  b  the  second, 
and  c  the  appearance  of  the  shell  whnn  another  half- whorl  has 
been  formed.  Some  of  onr  shells  have  a  layer  of  thin  and  very 
brittle  shell  around  the  apertnre,  evidently  jast  formed  and  not  yet 
hardened. 

Some  snails'  eggs,  or  very  yonng  snails,  will  add  interest  to  this 
part  of  the  lesson.  In  spring  and  snmmer  the  eggs  of  the  pond 
snail  may  be  found  on  the  under  sarfaoe  of  the  leaves  of  water- 
plants  in  masses  of  jelly,  in  which  the  eggs  look  like  little  dots. 
These  will  soon  hatch  out,  if  kept  in  a  jar  of  water.  The  shells  of 
young  snails  are  transparent,  and  the  growth  of  the  body  and  the 
gradual  coiling  of  the  shell  can  be  easily  watched. 

Holding  the  shell  in  the  hand  with  the  opening  toward 
us  and  the  apex  uppermost,  the  aperture  is  toward  the 
right  hand.  It  is  usually  on  the  right,  so  when  we  find 
one  on  the  left,  we  will  be  careful  to  keep  the  shell. 

Our  snails  have  closed  up  the  aperture  of  their  shells 


56 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


by  making  a  door  of  the  mucus,  or  slime,  that  comes 
from  their  foot.  Every  year  when  cold  weather  comes, 
the  land  snails  hide  away  under  the  roots  of  a  tree,  or 
under  a  log  or  stone,  and  make  this  door  to  shut  them- 
selves in.  Most  of  the  water  snails  have  a  door  all  the 
time,  which  they  can  shut  whenever  they  please. 


Lesson  II. 

Joat  before  the  lesson  we  drop  oar  snails  into  a  bowl  of  warm 
water,  and  they  are  soon  coming  oat,  foot  foremost. 

Holding  them  upside  down,  we  see  a  fleshy  rim  around 
the  aperture.     This  is  the  mantle,  which  builds  the  shell. 

Just  under  the  edge  of 
the  shell  is  the  breathing- 
hole  (Fig.  4,  b),  which 
keeps  opening  and  shut- 
ting, and  leads  into  the 
snail's  simple  lung,  only 
a  sac  in  the  mantle  with 
blood-vessels  in  its  sides. 
The  breathing- hole  is  on 
the  right  side  when  the 
aperture  points  toward  the  right,  and  on  the  left  when 
that  points  to  the  left. 

Two  pairs  of  horns,  that  are  gradually  pushed  out,  are 
the  tentacles  (Fig.  4:,  s  t  and  it).  The  long  tentacles  are 
the  eyestalks  ;  the  others  are  used  only  as  feelers.  We 
touch  a  long  tentacle,  and  a  black  thread  pulls  the  eye 
down  inside.  The  black  thread  is  the  lining  of  the  ten- 
tacle, which  contains  muscles  that  draw  the  end  in  just  as 
we  turn  the  finger  of  a  glove  when  we  pull  it  off  in  a 
hurry. 

The  snail  moves  on  its  broad  foot,  and  by  putting  it  on 


The  Snail.  57 

a  piece  of  glass  we  see  that  the  foot  is  a  large  sucker  that 

moves  in  little  waves.     The  glass  is  soon  covered  with 

slime,    poured    out  of  a   very 

small   opening   in  the  hottom 

of  the  foot  near  the  head.     In 

this  way  the  snail  coats  bits  of 

earth  and  stone  with  a  smooth 


Fig.  5. 


Fig.  6. 


glaze,   that  prevents  them  from  irritating  its  soft   foot. 
Finally,  we  feed  the  snails,  and  watch  the  hard  brown 
jaw  (Fig.  5)  as  it  bites  off  pieces  of  the  young  leaves  of 
cabbage,  lettuce,  or  celery. 


t  e   c    t 


Fio.  7. 

These  pieces  are  chewed  by  the  teeth  on  the  snail's  tongne,  which 
point  backward  when  the  tongne  is  drawn  in,  bnt  are  ma<le  to 
stand  erect  when  the  snail  is  eating  and  the  tongne  ia  pnlled  for- 
ward by  mnscles.  As  the  tongne  works  backward  and  forward, 
the  teeth  grind  the  food  against  the  hard  jaw,  and  also  the  carti- 
lage that  lines  the  upper  part  and  sides  of  the  month.  As  many 
of  these  tiny  teeth  are  worn  ont  every  time  that  the  snail  eats, 
new  ones  are  continually  growing  in  a  little  pocket  behind  the 
tongne  and  pushing  forward  to  take  the  place  of  the  old  ones. 

If  snails  and  slugs  are  troublesome  in  gardens,  they 
may  be  killed  by  sprinkling  dust  or  ashes  wherever  they 


68 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


'T'hey  throw  out  so  much  mucus  in  their  efforts  to 
remove  the  dry  particles  that 
they  poon  exhaust  their  strength 
and  die  «it  weakness.     In   Eu- 


tiG.  8  Fig.  9. 

rcpe,  where  they  do  so  much  mischief  in  the  vineyards, 
the  people  take  their  revenge  by  eatirg  them  in  turn. 

P  >•  f^enniloi  hnvA  but  one  pair  of  tentacles,  at  the  base  of  which 
are  the  eyes.  Some  of  them,  like 
the  one  seen  in  Fig.  6,  have  a 
horny  scale,  or  operculum,  which 
closes  the  aperture  of  their  shells, 
and  the  month  on  the  end  of  a 
rostrum,  or  beak,  and  alsa  breathe 
by  gills.  Others  (Fig.  7)  have  no 
operculum  and  no  rostrum,  and 
are  air-breathers. 

A  t  the  seashore  we  shHll  find  the 
large  Lunatia  (Fig.  8).  Fig.  9 
shows  this  as  it  crawls  about  partly 

buried  in  the   sand,  with  its  broad  foot  extended  and  the  shell 

almost  covered  by  the 

soft   body.     With    the 

teeth   on    its   tongue 

(Fig.  10)  it  drills   into 

the  shells  of  other  mol- 

lusks  and  eats  out  their 

bodies    through    the 

hole.     This  snail   lays 

its  eggs  in  the    "  sand 

collars"  (Fig.  11)  we  have  so  often  picked  up  on  the  beach,  the 

round  spots  on  them  being   egg-cases,  and  each    one   containing 

several  eggs. 


Fto.   10. 


Fig.  n. 


THE    EARTHWORM. 


To  ronae  herself  to  the  proper  pitch  of  enthaaiasm  on  this  sab 
ject,  the  teacher  has  only  to  read  Darwin's  Vege- 
table Mould  and  Earthworms.     The  most  inveterate 
prejudice  against   everythingr  that  crawls  will  be 
nnable  to  Bnrvive  a  catefnl  stndy  of  this  book. 

Oar  living  earthworms  are  kept  for  winter  study 
iu  a  box  of  earth  in  the  cellar,  covered  to  prevent 
their  escape,  bat  not  so  closely  as  to  exclude  the 
air.     The  earth  must   be   kept   damp,  as  worms  -f      \       ' 

breathe  only  through  the  skin,  which  must  there- 
fore be  always  moist.  Occasionally  they  will  need 
a  few  leaves  for  food,  which  will  disappear  by  >f     |  "^  t 

degrees  inside  their  barrows.  At  night,  when  the 
worms  are  busy  foraging,  if  we  remove  the  cover 
quietly,  and  are  careful  not  to  let  the  light  fall  ^r/ 
directly  on  them,  we  can  surprise  quite  an  active 
colony,  each  one  exploring  the  earth  around  him 
with  the  forward  end  of  the  body,  while  the  tail  In- 
still clings  just  inside  the  burrow. 

For  our  lesson  each  child  has  a  living  earth- 
worm in  a  little  disb.  Half  of  the  dishes  are  filled 
with  water,  half  with  earth.  A  little  talk  about 
the  habits  of  the  worms  occupies  a  few  minutes, 
and  gives  the  children  time  to  become  accustomed 
to  their  movements  and  ready  to  observe  them.  ^_ 

At   first   both  ends  of  the  long,  ringed 
body  look  alike  to  us,  but  by  degrees  we 
discover  that  the  end  which  always  moves     /^a 
forward  (Fig.  1, 1 1)  is  pointed  and  termi- 
nates in  a  little  knob,  the  upper  lip.     There 


Fio.  1. 


60  The  Earthworm. 

is  no  distinct  head,  but  the  mouth  is  at  this  end.  Here, 
too,  are  the  largest  rings.  The  other  end,  or  tail  (Fig. 
1.  I  2),  consists  of  smaller  rings,  and  is  flattened  at  the  tip 
(Fig.  1,  w).  About  one  third  of  the  distance  from  the 
head  to  the  tail  is  the  saddle  (Fig.  1,  w),  where  the  rings 
are  thickened  and  show  much  less  plainly. 

We  can  count  the  rings  on  an  aleobolic  specimen,  bnt  we  mast 
remember  that  the  anrface  of  each  ring  is  divided  by  a  skin  fold, 
Bu  that  there  are  only  half  as  many  rings  as  folds.  Extf  iding  in- 
ward to  the  intestine  are  mnscnlar  partitions  which  separate  the 
nogs  and  divide  the  body  into  a  series  of  chambers. 

In  color  the  worm  is  reddish  brown,  the  upper  side 
being  much  darker  than  the  lower.  At  first  we  think  it 
has  no  skeleton,  but  if  we  put  an  alcoholic  specimen  in 
water  for  a  few  hours,  we  can  remove  a  thin,  horny 
cuticle,  or  outer  layer  of  the  skin.  Sometimes  we  detect 
a  beautiful  iridescence,  caused  by  the  play  of  light  on  the 
tiny  folds  of  the  cuticle. 

Now,  taking  the  head  end  of  the  worm  gently  between 
the  fingers,  and  holding  it  up,  we  shall  see  it  open  its 
mouth  in  its  efforts  to  escape,  and  thrust  out  a  large, 
white,  membranous  pouch,  into  which  the  mouth  leads. 
This  pouch  is  drawn  forward  when  the  worm  is  digging 
its  burrow,  thus  swelling  out  the  head  and  making  a  much 
larger  opening  in  the  soil.  As  we  hold  the  worm,  we 
feel  the  pressure  of  the  stiff  hairs,  or  bristles,  on  its 
sides,  which  we  see  as  bright  points  when  it  draws  up  its 
rings  and  pushes  against  our  fingers.  There  are  two 
double  rows  of  these  hook-like  bristles  (Fig.  1,  s)  on  each 
side  of  the  body,  just  where  the  darker  color  of  the  back 
joins  the  lighter  color  of  the  under  side. 

Earthworms  have  no  teeth,  bat  with  their  lips  they  pinch  off  the 
soft  parts  of  decaying  leaves,  on  which  they  feed.  The  red  thread 
along  the  worm's  back  is  the  principal  blood-vessel.  The  dark 
tabe  passing  throagh  the  body  is  the  intestine,  which  contains  earth, 
swallowed  partly  to  get  it  oat  of  the  barrow,  and  partly  for  the  de- 
caying plants  in  it. 


THE   LOBSTER. 


Lesson  I. 

A  single  lobster  is  killed  for  oar  leBson  by  keeping  it  in  warm 
water  for  a  few  hoars.  Many  papils  will  hardly  recognize  it  in  its 
natural  dark-green  coat,  while  others  will  not  only  know  it,  bat 
will  also  describe  the  oarioas  lobster-pots  in  which  it  is  taken  on 
oar  sea  coast.  la  the  interior  of  the  ooontry,  where  crayfishes 
aboand,  the  lobster  ia  not  needed,  thoagh  it  is  an  excellent  plan  for 
the  teacher  to  have  one  while  the  papils  have  crayfishes.  The 
proper  position  for  oar  specimen  is  with  the  back  uppermost  and 
the  head  pointing  away  from  as.  Aa  the  lobster  is  held  ap  in  this 
position  before  the  class,  some  observations  will  be  quickly  made  : 

Its  color  is  dark  green,  and  reddish  on  the  claws.  Its 
body  is  shaped  like  a  tube.  It  is  covered  with  a  hard 
crust.  The  crust  is  its  skeleton.  The  body  has  two 
parts,  the  head  and  the  tail.  The  tail  is  made  of  rings. 
The  head  is  covered  with  a  great  shell  like  a  saddle. 

The  part  that  has  been  called  the  lobster's  head  inclades  his 
chest  as  well,  and  we  pat  on  the  blackboard  the  proper  names  of 
the  parts  mentioned,  in  this  way  : 

The  two  parts  of  the  lobster's  body  are  the  head-thorax 
(Fig.  1,  cth)  and  the  abdomen  (Fig.  1,  ab).  The  large 
shield  that  covers  the  head-thorax  is  the  carapace. 

But  these  two  parts  are  not  the  whole  lobster. 
What  else  has  he  ? 

He  has  legs,  claws,  feelers,  and  eyes.  He  has  little 
flaps  on  the  rings  of  the  abdomen.  He  has  a  sharp  nose 
between  hie  eyes. 

We  find  that  the  "  sharp  nose  "  is  only  the  pointed  end 
of  the  carapace,  and  is  called  the  beak.  We  wonder  what 
61 


62 


Lessons  in  Zoiihgy. 


it  is  there  for.  To  protect  the  eyea,  of  course.  But  the 
legs  and  feelers,  which  are  attached  to  the  body  by  joints, 
are  all  called  appendages.  These  appendages  are  not  all 
in  one  piece  like  the  bristles  of  the  earthworm,  but  are 
themselves  jointed.  For  the  first  time  we  begin  to  study 
animals   with  jointed  appendages. 

We  see  that  the  abdomen 

consists  of  six  rings  and  a 

flattened  piece   at  the  end 

called  the  telaon  (Fig.  1,  t). 

CL 


Fig.  1. 


J  IG.  2. 


It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  if  the  tail  fin  pnzzles  the  class,  with 
the  two  broad  lobes  on  each  side  of  the  telson,  whUe  in  the  cray- 
fish the  telson  itself  is  jointed.  Bnt  after  careful  observation  they 
will  see  that  the  telson  is  a  part  of  the  body,  while  the  lobes  on 
either  side  (Fig.  1,  sw^)  are  parts  of  organs  that  are  jointed  to  the 
body,  tbat  is,  parts  of  appendages.  If  this  is  clearly  seen,  the 
next  qaestion  will  be  correctly  answered. 

How  many  appendages  can  we  find  on  any  ring  of  the 
abdomen  ? 

There  are  two  on  each  one.  There  is  a  pair  of  ap- 
pendages on  each  of  the  six  rings,  but  none  on  the  telson. 

Are  these  appendages  all  alike  ? 


The  Lobster.  63 

The  front  pair  are  very  small  and  the  hind  pair  very 
large,  but  the  others  are  nearly  the  same  size. 

These  appendages  are  all  used  in  swimming  when  the 
lobster  is  yonng,  so  are  called  swimmerets  or  little  swim- 
mers. In  the  breeding  season  the  female  carries  her 
eggs  glued  to  the  small  swimmerets. 

Those  who  have  seen  a  live  lobster  try  to  get  away  in  a 
hurry,  know  why  the  sixth  pair  of  swimmerets  are  so  large. 
Their  broad  lobes  spread  out  on  each  side  of  the  telson 
in  such  a  way  as  to  make  a  powerful  tail  fin  with  which 
the  lobster  strikes  the  water,  thus  sending  himself  forcibly 
backward. 

We  examine  the  third  pair  of  swimmerets,  and  find  that 
they  consist  of  a  stem  (Fig.  2,  A.')  bearing  two  flattened 
lobes  (Fig.  2,  A*  and  A3). 

Some  of  the  class  will  doubtless  observe  that  the  second,  third, 
fourth,  and  fifth  pairs  of  swimmerets  are  all  made  on  the  same  plan, 
bat  it  is  not  wise  to  force  any  sach  compariaoa  upon  grammar 
school  pnpils.  When  they  are  older  it  will  be  a  part  of  their  work 
to  trace  one  common  plan  in  all  its  variations  through  the  whole 
series  of  appendages,  bat  sach  study  of  homologies  is  for  maturer 
pnpils  than  ours. 

Fig.  2. — Third  segment  of  the  abdomen  with  its  pair  of  ap- 
pendages. 

Lesson  II. 

In  order  to  give  the  class  a  correct  idea  of  all  the  appendages, 
we  make  blackboard  sketches  of  the  mouth-parts  (Fig.  3),  and 
also  aew  the  month-parts,  the  antennas,  and  the  eyeatalks  to  a  piece 
of  dark- colored  pasteboard. 

Review  of  Lesson  I. — The  lobster  is  dark  green,  with  reddish 
claws.  It  is  tubular  in  shape.  Its  skeleton  is  a  hard  crust.  The 
body  is  in  two  parts,  —  the  head-thorax  and  the  abdomen.  The 
head-thorax  is  covered  by  a  g^eat  shield  called  the  carapace.  The 
lobster  has  many  pairs  of  jointed  appendages.  The  abdomen  has 
six  rings  and  a  flat  telson.    There  are  six  pairs  of  swimmerets  on  tke 


64 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


abdomen.  With  the  small  swimmereta  the  lobster  carries  its  eggs  ; 
with  the  pair  of  large  swimmereta  and  the  telson  it  takes  long 
jumps  backward. 


Biting  Jaw,  Mandible,     . 

Little  Jaws,  or      f  First  Maxilla,    . 

Mory  Jaws,  1 

Maxillae,  [  Second  Moxilla, 


-^ 


Aoceseory  Jaws, 
or 


First  MaxiUiped, 


Foot  Jaws,  J  -t;-     J 

or  Maxillipeds,  "•  Second  Maxtlhped, 


Third  MaxiUiped, 
Fig.  3. 


Outline  of  new  work.  —  "We  will  count  the  appen- 
dages of  the  head-thorax.  There  are  five  pairs  of  legs 
(Fig.  1,  c*  —  0^),  and  one  pair  end  in  great  claws. 
There  are  two  pairs  of  little  legs.  There  are  "  lots  of 
little  legs  and  things  "  next  to  the  big  claws. 

All  these  little  legs  can  be  seen  fastened  to  this  piece 
of  pasteboard      How  many  pairs  are  there  ? 

There  are  two  pairs  of  little  legs.  There  are  three 
pairs  that  are  split,  and  look  something  like  swimmerets. 
There  are  two  gfreat  teeth,  with  a  pair  of  tiny  legs  fast- 
ened to  them. 

The  three  pairs  next  the  great  claws  are  the  jaw-feet, 
called  also  foot-jaws  or  maxillipeds.  The  next  two  pairs 
are  little  jaws  or  maxillse,  and  the  "  two  great  teeth " 


The  Lobster.  66 

are  the  pair  of  mandibles  or  chewing  jaws.  Let  us  put 
our  probes  between  tbe  mandibles  into  the  mouth. 
These  six  pairs  of  appendages  are  called  mouth-parts. 
What  other  appendages  has  the  lobster  ? 

He  has  two  pairs  of  feelers.     Those  are  his  antennae. 

What  is  curious  about  his  eyes  ? 

They  stick  out  from  hia  head,  and  can  be  moved  about. 

The  eyestalks  are  another  pair  of  appendages.  How 
many  pairs  of  appendages  are  there  on  the  head-thorax  ? 

There  are  fourteen  pairs. 

How  many  pairs  on  the  abdomen  ? 

There  are  six  pairs. 

Now  we  will  compare  the  legs.  How  many  joints 
have  they  ? 

The  big  legs  have  six  joints  and  the  others  have  seven. 
The  joints  move  in  different  ways.  The  first  pair  of  legs 
end  in  large  claws,  the  next  two  pairs  in  small  claws,  and 
the  last  two  pairs  in  sharp  points.  One  great  claw  has 
broad,  blunt  teeth,  the  other  has  sharp  teeth. 

Since  the  lobster  lives  in  shallow  water,  he  uses  his  four 
pairs  of  small  legs  in  walking  over  the  rocky  bottom.  The 
great  claws  are  kept  for  fighting  and  tearing  his  prey.  If 
he  loses  one  in  a  duel,  another  soon  takes  its  place.  While 
the  broad  teeth  on  one  c>aw  often  anchor  the  lobster  to 
some  large  seaweed,  or  are  used  as  millstones  for  crushing 
his  food,  the  other  claw  catches  fish  and  tears  them  apart 
with  its  sharp  teeth. 

While  the  great  claws  capture  moving  prey,  the  third  pair  of 
iaw-feet  pick  up  food  from  the  bottom,  and  their  saw-like  inner 
edges  help  to  tear  it  in  pieces.  The  other  month-parts,  especially 
the  strong  mandibles,  do  the  rest  of  the  work  of  biting  and  shew- 
ing, though  the  little  jaws  seem  too  soft  to  be  of  mnch  use. 

We  notice  that  the  first  pair  of  antennae  (Fig.  1,  a ',) 
are  very  short  and  have  two  parts,  but  the  second  pair 
(a»)  are  very  long  and  made  of  many  little  joints. 


66 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


The  ears  are  in  the  lower  joint  of  the  small  antennae,  which  is 
flattened  on  the  npper  side  and  sarroanded  by  hairs.  If  these  are 
pashed  apart,  a  small,  clear,  oval  space  is  seen,  which  is  the  oater 
covering  of  the  ear. 

Pupils  who  think  a  lobster  needs  eyes  in  the  back  of  bit  head, 
since  he  takes  his  flying  leaps  backwards,  see  how  this  need  is  met 
by  the  movable  eyestalka,  which  enable  him  to  tarn  his  eyes  in 
any  direction. 


Lesson  III. 


SMvievD  of  Lessons  I.  and  II. 
The  following   list  of   the  lobster's  appendages  is  pnt   on   the 
blackboard,  and  the  children  are  asked  to  tell  all  that  they  can 
about  each  pair : — 

f    1  pair  of  eyestalks. 
I    2  pairs  of  antennae. 

1  pair  of  mandibles. 

2  pairs  of  little  jaws. 

3  pairs  of  jaw-feet. 
5  pairs  of  walking-legs. 

Abdomen.   ■{    6  pairs  of  swimmerets. 


Head-thorax.  ■{ 


I 


CtPH^LO-TnoHM 


■^r 


Abdomen 


5Miii.i.AMrtivNA 
LARceANrEritM. 


Manoibu 

maxilla    (j; 

Maxillipeds    It 


Fia.  4. 


For  young  children  these  appendages  may  be  simply  classified  as 
eyestalks,  feelers,  chewing  feet,  walking  feet,  and  swimming  feet. 


The  Lobster.  67 


OUTLINE     OF    NEW     WORK. 


The  abdomen  consists  of  rings,  and  we  find  bat  one 
pair  of  swimmerets  on  a  ring.  Now  let  us  see  whether 
the  appendages  of  the  head-thorax  are  borne  on  rings,  too. 

With  strong  scissors  we  cut  along  the  groove  of  the 
carapace,  from  the  front  half-way  up  the  back,  and  bend 
back  the  carapace,  as  shown  in  Fig.  4,  thus  displaying 
the  plumy  gills,  some  fastened  to  the  sides  of  the  thorax, 
others  to  the  legs  and  the  jaw-feet.  Cutting  away  the 
gills,  we  see  a  thin  white  shell,  which  seems  to  be  made 
of  several  pieces  that  have  grown  together.  Now,  by 
lifting  each  leg  in  turn,  we  see  that  every  pair  of  legs  is 
borne  on  one  of  these  pieces,  which  are  therefore  the 
lower  portions  of  several  rings.  As  we  approach  the 
mouth  and  the  appendages  become  more  crowded,  the 
rings  are  completely  grown  together,  but  we  conclude  from 
what  we  have  seen  that  each  pair  of  appendages  repre- 
sents a  ring,  and  the  head-thorax  therefore  consists  of 
fourteen  rings  soldered  together. 

Children  mnst  not  be  harried  to  this  obnclnsion,  but  led  np  to  it 
slowly  and  carefally  by  patient  questioning.  They  will  know  only 
what  they  discover  for  themselves. 

We  have  found  the  gills  safely  hidden  away  under  the 
two  sides  of  the  carapace,  in  the  lobster's  vest -pockets, 
which  are  open  at  each  end,  so  that  the  water  may  ru^h 
out  as  well  as  find  its  way  in.  But  as  there  must  be 
always  a  current  of  water  over  the  gills,  a  spoon-shaped 
organ, — the  gill-scoop  or  flabellum  (/,  Fig.  4), — attached 
to  each  of  the  second  maxillae,  is  constantly  scooping  it 
out  at  the  front  of  the  pockets  as  fast  as  it  rushes  in  at 
the  back.  In  this  way  a  fresh  supply  of  oxygen  is  con- 
tinually brought  to  the  blood  in  the  gills. 

A  probe  put  into  the  mouth  passes  into  the  stomach,  a 


68  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

wonderful  machine  in  the  top  of  the  head.  As  if  the 
lobster  had  not  jaws  enough  for  tearing  and  chewing,  he 
has  teeth  inside  his  stomach,  by  which  his  food  is  so  finely 
ground  that  it  will  pass  through  a  strainer  of  little  hairs 
into  the  back  part  of  the  stomach. 

The  heart,  a  six-sided,  spongy  organ,  which  sends  the 
purified  blood  from  the  gills  over  the  whole  body,  lies 
under  the  carapace  just  behind  the  transverse  groove  on 
the  back.  We  have  now  seen  that  the  carapace  covers 
and  protects  the  most  important  part  of  the  lobster's  oody, 
that  containing  the  gills,  the  stomach,  and  the  heart. 

Very  young  lobsters  are  beautiful,  transparent  little 
creatures,  that  swim  about  at  the  surface  of  the  water, 

and  are  quite  different  from 
their  parents.  Fig.  5  repre- 
sents one  magnified,  while  A 
shows  its  natural  size. 

A   lobster's    shell    once 
formed     never    increases    in 
size,  and  like  a  boy's  jacket, 
^^'    ■  must  be  thrown  away  when 

he  has  outgrown  it.  This  is  the  way  the  lobster  pulls 
himself  out  of  it :  First,  the  shell  splits  here  on  the  back 
between  the  head-thorax  and  the  abdomen,  or  down  the 
middle  of  the  head-thorax,  or  sometimes  in  both  places ; 
then  the  poor  fellow  wriggles  and  twists  till  he  gets  his 
head  and  legs  out  of  their  sheath,  when  with  one  pull  he 
frees  the  rest  of  his  body.  The  new  shell  is  formed  be- 
fore the  old  one  comes  off,  but  is  very  soft  and  loose,  so 
that  the  body  can  grow  to  fill  it.  Tl>.s  shell  hardens  and 
thickens  in  a  few  days,  but  in  this  short  time  the  lobster 
has  grown  as  much  as  he  will  until  he  moults  again. 


THE  CRAYFISH  AND  THE  CRAB. 


Thongh  the  greater  park  of  the  lessons  on  the  lobster  applies 
equally  well  to  the  crayfish  (Fig.  1),  still,  for  the  sake  of  those  who 
will  make  use  of  the  latter  alone,  a  few  more  points  may  well  be 
brooght  out  here. 

The  crab  (Fig.  2)  deseryes  oar  attention  not  only  because  it  is  so 
common  and  easily  obtained,  bnt  also  becanse  it  furnishes  a  strik- 
ing instance  that  children  can  appreciate  of  the  changes  in  an  an- 
imal brought  about  by  change  of  habit,  even  when  the  general  plan 
of  stmotare  remains  the  same.  Those  who  can  procure  both  the 
lobster  and  the  crayfish  may  devote  one  lesson  to  a  comparison  of 
the  two  as  a  review  of  this  important  type  of  structure,  when  chil- 
iren's  quick  eyes  will  discover  many  joiw>f^  points  of  resemblance 


Fig.  1 
or  difiFerence  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  touch  upon  here.     It  will  of 
course  be  impossible  in  practice  to  combine  the  crayfish  and  the 
crab  in  one  lesson,  as  is  done  in  this  outline. 

The  home  of  the  crayfish  is  in  fresh-water  streams, 
where  it  is  most  active  towards  evening,  seeking  shelter 
from  the  heat  and  sunshine  of  the  day  under  the  shade  of 
stones  and  banks.  In  the  winter  it  burrows  in  the  banks, 
not  to  sleep,  however,  for  on  warm  days  it  lies  at  the 
mouth  of  it4  burrow  watching  for  food.     Like  its  salt- 

69 


70  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

water  cousin,  it  is  not  at  all  fastidioas,  bat  greedily  swal- 
lows frogs,  tadpoles,  water-snails, — anything  and  every- 
thing that  comes  along. 

A  little  colony  of  crayfishes  can  be  kept  in  a  cellar  of  any  cool, 
dark  place,  in  a  tab  with  two  or  three  inches  of  water  and  earth, 
and  stones  enoogh  for  a  false  river-bed.  They  will  show  consider- 
able ingenaity  in  bnilding  tiny  caves,  into  which  they  beat  a  head- 
long retreat  when  distnrbed,  and  which  they  will  rebuild  as  often 
as  we  demolish  them.  Unfortunately,  they  are  cannibals,  and  even 
if  well  fed  with  raw  meat,  show  a  wicked  preference  for  their  own 
brothers  and  sisters,  that  nambers  the  days  of  oar  little  settlement. 

The  dull  green  or  brown  color  of  the  crayfish,  its 
snaaller  size  than  the  lobster,  its  similarity  in  shape,  skel- 
eton, and  appendages,  and  the  equal  number  of  append- 
ages, are  all  noted. 


Fig.  2. 

A  preparation  uf  the  moath-parts  apon  piisceboard  ia  almost 
eaaential  in  the  case  of  the  crayfish,  and  it  will  be  found  well  worth 
the  while  to  glue  the  carapace  and  the  rings  of  the  abdomen  to  the 
center  of  the  card,  and  then  to  arrange  all  the  appendages  in  rega- 
lar  order  on  either  side. 

The  division  of  the  telson  into  two  jointed  pieces,  the 
variation  in  the  anterior  pairs  of  swimmerets,  the  difiEer- 
ent  shape  of  the  rostrum,  the  lower  part  of  the  long  an- 
tennae, and  the  great  claws,  should  then  be  observed. 

In  Btadjing  the  crab,  the  differences  between  that  and  the  lobster 
at  first  engross  our  attention. 


Ihe  Ci  ay  fish  and  the  Crab.  71 

It  is  nearly  all  head-thorax.  The  abdomen  is  very 
small,  and  is  tacked  up  under  the  thorax.  The  carapace 
is  broader  than  it  is  long.  The  eyes  are  nearly  hidden 
in  two  hollows  under  the  edge  of  the  carapace.  The  car- 
apace has  no  beak,  and  the  antennae  are  very  small.  The 
great  claws  are  bent  like  two  arms,  so  that  the  crab  can 
bring  them  up  to  his  mouth.  All  the  small  walking-legs 
end  in  points.  The  mouth-parts  are  covered  by  two 
plates. 

These  two  plates  are  really  the  enlaced  joints  of  the  third  pair 
of  jaw-feet. 

Turning  back  the  abdomen,  we  find  nothing  that  can 
be  called  a  swimmeret,  but  either  two  or  four  pairs  of  ap- 
pendages, used  by  the  female  in  carrying  the  eggs.  The 
abdomen,  no  longer  used  in  swimming,  has  become  as 
small  as  possible,  and  is  safely  kept  out  of  the  way. 

But  the  crab  is  like  the  lobster  in  some  respects.  It 
has  head-thorax  and  abdomen.  Its  skeleton  is  a  hard 
shell.  It  has  five  pairs  of  legs,  and  one  pair  has  great 
claws.  It  has  some  mouth-parts.  It  has  two  pairs  of 
antennae.     It  has  eyes  on  stalks. 

By  removing  the  ander  side  of  the  carapace,  which  covers  the 
gills,  and  the  third  pair  of  jaw-feet,  which  hide  the  other  month- 
parts,  we  complete  the  proof  that  the  number  of  appendages  on  the 
head-thorax  and  the  whole  plan  of  strnctare  are  identical  with 
what  we  are  so  familiar  with  in  the  lobster. 


THE   HERMIT-CRAB. 

A  jar  of  hermit-crabs  in  alcohol  will  famish  material  for  a  de- 
lightfal  lesson.  If  bnt  few  of  the  children  have  seen  them  in  their 
homes,  we  begin  with  a  short  account  of  their  habits. 

Last  summer  I  spent  part  of  the  vacation  at  the  sea- 
shore, and  one  day,  while  I  was  walking  on  the  beach  at  low 
tide,  I  caught  sight  of  some  snail  shells  moving  along  juBt 
below  the  water's  edge.  But  who  ever  saw  snails  crawl 
80  fast?    And  they  were  on  the  sand  instead  of  partly 


Fui    1 

buried  in  it.  As  I  stooped  to  pick  up  one,  I  was  just  in 
time  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  a  small  lobster-like  head  and 
claws  disappearing  inside,  while  one  of  the  big  claws 
closed  the  aperture  of  the  shell  with  a  sharp  click.  I  had 
come  upon  a  colony  of  hermit-crabs  (Fig.  1).  T  put 
some  in  a  pail  of  sea-water  and  carried  them  to  the  house, 
where  I  could  watch  them.  As  soon  as  the  water  in  the 
jail  began  to  grow  impure,  the  crabs  left  their  shells 

72 


The  Hermit  -  Crab. 


73 


entirely,  and  then  I  saw  why  they  needed  their  houses. 
But  when  I  gave  them  a  fresh  supply  of  sea-water,  how 
delighted  they  were  to  crawl  back  to  their  shells,  trying 
first  one  and  then  another  till  they  found  one  of  the  right 
size,  and  then  backing  contentedly  into  it !  Now  let  us 
examine  our  specimens. 


Fig.  2. 

The  body  is  nearly  all  soft.  It  has  a  shell  on  the  head 
and  claws  and  a  little  shield  over  the  heart,  but  the  abdo- 
men is  so  soft  that  it  almost  breaks  in  two. 

Why  does  the  hermit-crab  carry  a  snail-shell  on  his 
back? 

To  protect  his  soft  body. 

Has  he  the  same  appendages  as  the  lobster  ? 


74  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

He  has  two  eyestalks,  longer  than  the  lobster's.  He 
has  two  pairs  of  antenuse.  (Fig.  2,  a,  the  long  antennfe.) 
He  has  one  pair  of  hard  mandibles.  I  think  he  has  just 
as  many  mouth-parts  as  the  lobster. 

You  are  right.  He  has  two  pairs  of  little  jaws  and 
three  pairs  of  jaw-feet. 

He  has  one  pair  of  great  claws  (Fig.  2,  c')  and  four 
other  pairs  of  walking-legs  (Fig.  2,  c^-c^).  One  big  claw 
is  larger  than  the  other. 

Most  of  the  olass  vill  find  that  the  right  olaw  is  larger  than  the 
left,  beoanse  the  aperture  of  most  anail-shella  is  on  the  right  side, 
and  this  claw  is  ased  to  close  it  np  when  the  crab  is  inside. 

The  walking-legs  are  different  from  the  lobster's.  The 
second  and  third  pairs  are  long  and  pointed  at  the  end, 
and  the  fourth  and  fifth  pairs  are  short  and  end  in  little 
claws. 

The  last  two  pairs  are  probably  used  only  for  holding 
the  creature  in  the  shell. 

Are  there  any  swimmerets  ? 

There  are  three  or  four  on  the  left  side  (Fig.  2,  s^-ss), 
and  one  pair  at  the  end  of  the  abdomen  {s^). 

The  male  has  bat  three  appendae;es  on  the  left  side  of  the  abdo- 
men, but  the  female  has  foar,  which  are  longer  than  those  of  the 
male  becanse  ased  in  carrying  the  eggs.  Both  haye  the  pair  at  the 
end,  need  as  claapers.  The  hard  oraet  on  this  pair  and  on  the  last 
two  segments  of  the  abdomen,  a  hard  ridge  (Fig,  2,  r)  on  the  ander 
side  of  the  abdomen,  and  a  projection  (p)  close  to  it  on  the  left 
side,  all  help  to  hold  the  crab  in  his  shell. 

In  looking  for  the  gills,  we  trace  the  flap  that  covers  them  ap  to 
the  side  of  the  body,  'where  it  shows  beaatif ally  that  it  is  nothing 
but  a  doable  fold  of  skin,  thus  making  clear  to  teacher,  if  not  to 
papils,  its  real  Btraotnre  in  the  lobster. 

One  can  hardly  find  stronger  proof  than  in  the  hermit-crab  that 
an  animal  becomes  adapted  to  its  snrronndings,  and  also  that  parts 
oDosed  will  either  disappear  or  so  far  degenerate  as  to  be  incapable 
of  ase. 


THE  BEACH -FLEA. 

We  may  chooee  eithsr  the  Gammaros  (Fig.  1),  colored  like  the 
heavy  masses  of  dark  green  seaweed  onder  which  it  hides,  or  the 
equally  nimble  Orchestia,  so  precisely  like  the  sea-sand  in  its  color 
that  many  a  one  escapes  from  ns  as  we  dig  into  their  holes  on  the 
beach.     The  Gammarns  is  the  one  first  described  in  this  lesson. 

Observations  to  be  made :  The  beach-flea  has  a  very 
narrow  body,  strongly  curved  f'lr  jumping.  The  rings 
can  be  seen  on  the  whole  of  its  body  except  the  head. 


FiG.l. 


The  last  four  rings  of  the  abdomen  are  narrower  and 
harder  than  the  others.  There  are  seven  pairs  of  legs  iu 
all.  Two  pairs  of  these  have  great  claws.  There  are 
six  pairs  of  swimmerets.  The  first  three  pairs  of  swim- 
merets  are  soft,  the  others  are  hard  because  used  in 
jumping.  There  are  two  pairs  of  anteanse.  The  eyes 
are  like  two  curved  black  liue.^,  and  are  not  on  stalks. 

An  interesting  comparison  may  be  made  between  the 
shape  of  the  body  of  Gammarus  and  that  of  Orchestia. 
The  former  has  so  narrow  a  body  that  it  cannot  stand 

75 


re  Lessons  in   Zoology. 

upright,  fcuited  to  the  crevices  through  which  it  must 
often  make  its  way  ;  while  the  latter,  which  burrows  in 
the  yielding  sand,  has  a  much  broader  thorax,  and  can 
keep  its  balance  in  an  upright  position.  GaTomarus,  how- 
ever, must  always  swim  on  its  side  or  back. 

The  beach-flea  has  no  carapace  covering  both  head  and 
thorax.  Remembering  that  the  thorax  is  that  part  of  the 
body  which  bears  the  legs,  we  count  seven  rings  of  the 
thorax,  each  bearing  a  pair  of  legs.  The  first  ring  of  the 
thorax,  that  nearest  the  head,  is  so  small  that  we  must 
take  it  on  trust,  but  bears  a  pair  of  jaw-feet,  nevertheless. 
The  first  pair  of  legs  end  in  rude  pincers  formed  by  bend- 
ing the  little  hooked  claw  backward  toward  the  next  joint 
above,  which  is  somewhat  broadened.  The  second  pair 
have  larger  pincers  of  the  same  sort,  with  the  joint  above 
the  last  much  more  broadened.  The  remaining  five  pairs 
all  end  in  single  claws.  The  pear-shaped  bags  at  the 
base  of  the  legs  are  the  gills. 

We  are  caref  al  to  say  only  that  we  count  seven  rings  of  the  thorax, 
for  we  know  it  really  consists  of  eight,  even  if  we  can  see  bnt  seven. 

The  mouth-parts  are  so  tiny  that  they  can  scarcely  be 
seen  without  a  magnifying  glass.  They  consist  of  the 
pair  of  jaw-feet  already  mentioned,  two  pairs  of  maxillae, 
and  one  pair  of  mandibles.  The  head  also  bears  two 
pairs  of  antennse  nearly  equal  in  length. 

By  placing  the  head  nnder  a  magnifier  and  pressing  back  the 
jaw-feet  with  a  pin  or  a  dissecting  needle,  a  carefal  worker  may 
satisfy  herself  that  the  hard  mandibles  and  the  maxillae,  soft  and 
leaf-like,  are  really  present. 

Now  taking  Orohestia  and  comparing  it  with  Gammarns,  we 
make  the  following  discoveries : 

The  eyes  are  not  on  stalks,  and  are  nearly  round. 
The  first  pair  of  antennae  are  very  short,  indeed.     Plates 


The   Beach -Flea.  77 

of  shell  cover  the  legs  jast  as  ia  G;iminai*as.  The  last 
four  rings  of  the  abdomen  are  very  small,  and  the  last 
three  pairs  of  swimmerets  are  hardened  and  much 
crowded.  There  is  but  one  pair  of  pincers,  and  these  are 
on  the  second  pair  of  legs.  The  mouth-parts  are  the 
same  as  in  Gammarus,  but  are  more  plainly  seen. 

There  are  no  pincers  on  the  first  pair  of  legs,  bat  the  section 
above  the  last  is  tnrned  downward  and  the  terminal  claw  bent 
toward  ic,  as  if  in  the  attempt  to  form  pincers.  An  interesting 
series  may  be  made,  beginning  with  this  rnde  snggestion  of  a  grasp- 
ing organ,  placing  next  the  first  pair  of  pincers  in  Qammarns, 
then  the  second  pair  in  Gammiras,  and  finally  the  second  pair  in 
Orohestia,  in  which  the  pincers  nave  attained  their  greatest  size. 


THE   SPIDER. 


Lesson  I. 


The  eommoa  large,  brown,  long-legged  spider  (Fig.  1),  which 
spreads  its  web  on  plants  and  rests  seonrely  in  the  tnbe  leading 
downward  from  it,  is  the  one  described  in  these  lessons.  We  nse 
alcoholic  specimens.  The  large  black  and  yellow  field  and  garden 
spider  is  another  excellent  one  for  class  nse,  and  is  so  common  that 
it  in  easy  to  collect  a  sufficient  number.  Still  another  good  one  is 
the  great  round-web  spider,  often  found 
in  barns,  but  its  body  is  softer  and  more 
easily  injured. 

A  small  round-web  spider  has  also 
been  imprisoned  in  a  box  with  a  glass 
cover,  where  its  movements  could  be 
watched.  We  have  seen  that  it  did  not 
rest  until  it  had  spun  in  every  direction 
through  the  box,  so  that  it  could  go 
anywhere  in  its  new  home  without  step- 
ping off  the  threads.  When  this  was 
finished,  it  was  fed  with  flies,  and  the 
process  of  killing  them  carefully  ob- 
served,  from  the  time  when  they  were 
first  bound  with  tiny  ropes  till  they  were 
let  fall,  dry  and  juiceless,  to  the  bottom 
of  the  box. 

The  bodies  of  spiders  are  so  soft  and 
BO  easily  broken  that  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  fasten  them  to  bits  of 
cork  by  a  pin  through  the  thorax  if  they  are  not  to  be  ruined  in 
the  handling.  A  large  pin  and  a  bristle  are  also  given  to  each 
child,  since  the  probes  are  too  clumsy  for  use  upon  such  little 
creatures. 


Fig.  1. 


Facts  Already  Learned  by  Observation : 

The  spider  in  the  box  has  spun  threads  across  it  ini 

78 


The  Spider. 


79 


every  direction.  It  hangs  upside  down  in  its  web.  The 
spider  tied  up  a  fly  in  the  web  and  held  it  there  a  long 
time,  then  it  took  o£E  the  threads  and  let  the  fly  fall  on 
the  bottom  of  the  box.  The  spider  has  four  pairs  of 
long  legs.  It  has  a  big  head  and  a  round  body  with 
spots  on  it. 

This  last  observation  will  soon  be  corrected  from  the  alcoholic 
specimens.  These  most  now  be  held  with  the  back  appermost 
and  the  head  pointing  away  from  the  pnpil. 

Outline  of  new  discoveries  : 

The  spider  coald  be  cut  in  halves  by  cutting  length- 
wise from  front  to  back.  The  spider's  body  has  two 
parts.     Since  the  front  part  bears  the  legs,  it  must  be  the 


head-thorax,  and  ihe  other  part  is  the  abdomen.  The 
abdomen  is  very  soft  and  looks  as  if  it  might  break  oflE 
from  the  head-thorax.  The  skeleton  is  a  horny  crust 
covering  the  outside  of  the  body.  There  is  a  dark  band 
down  each  side  of  the  head-thorax,  and  some  dark  stripes 
and  spots  on  the  abdomen.  There  is  a  little  hollow  near 
the  hind  part  of  the  head-thorax. 


80 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


Thia  hollow  shows  whern  the  largn  mascla  thaf;  moves  tbn  snok- 
iDgf-stomach  is  attached.  By  the  contraction  of  this  and  oppnaiuj; 
mnsoles  below,  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  stomach  are  orawn 
apart,  and  the  spider's  liquid  food  is  pamped  backward  from  the 
month  to  the  intestine. 

The  spider  has  one  pair  of  short  Ipgs  besides  the  four 
pairs  of  long  ones.  It  uses  the  lorg  legs  for  walking, 
and  holds  the  others  out  in  front  like  feelers.  The  first 
pair  are  not  legs,  but  jointed  feelers,  called  palpi. 

In  the  yoang  spider  (Fig.  2)  the  yoang  legs  are  shorter  in  pro- 
portion to  the  size  of  the  body,  and  the  palpi  are  f>Tidently  l-gs 
and  are  so  nsed.  Afterwards  they  do  not  lengthen  as  much 
as  the  others,  gradually  take  a  different  position,  and  boing 
used  aa  feelers,  are  called  palpi.  The  distinction  between  these 
and  the  legs  needs  to  be  clearly  bronght  oat,  becanae  we  mmt 
think  of  spiders  as  having  only  four  pairs  of  legs.  Short  palpi  with 
broad  and  apparently  distorted  tips  show  that  the  specimen  is 
a  male. 

Lesson  II. 

Review  of  Lesson  I. — Spiders  can  spin  webs.  They  catch  insects 
in  the  webs  for  food.  The  body  is  in  two  parts,  head-thorax  and 
abdomen.  The  abdomen  is  large  and  connected  with  the  head- 
tboraz  by  a  small  joint.  The  spider  has  fonr  pairs  of  long  legs 
and  one  pair  of  palpi.     The  palpi  are  nsed  as  feelers. 

The  spider  most  now  be  held  with  its  head  toward  the  pupil. 

There  are  eight  eyes  (see  Fig.  1),  Under  the  magni- 
fier they  look  like  tiny  black  beads.     In  front  of  the  head 

are  two  clumf^y 
things  with  little 
hooks  on  the  end 
of  them  (Fig.  1). 
They  look  like 
short  legs,  and  1 
can  push  them 
from  side  to  side 

by    pressing   my 
Fig  3 


The  Spider.  81 

pin  in  between  them.  I  think  the  spider  bites  with  thetn. 
They  are  its  mandibles  or  biting-jaws.  I  can  put  the 
bristle  into  the  mouth  just  between  the  mandibles.  The 
spider  does  not  need  a  large  month  because  it  only  sucks 
the  blood  of  the  insects  that  it  catches.  On  the  under 
side  of  the  thorax,  close  behind  the  mandibles,  are  the 
maxillae  or  little  jaws  (Fig.  4,  a).  They  are  not  separate? 
appendages,  but  the  flattened  first  joints  of  the  palpi, 
which  are  used  in  chewing. 

Pies.  3  and  4  represent  the  greatly  magnified  mandibles  and 
maxii'se  of  a  common  garden  spider,  but  not  theone  wearestndjing. 

The  appendages  of  the  head-thorax  are  four  pairs  of 
legs,  one  pair  of  palpi,  and  one  pair  of  mandibles. 

When  a  spider  bites,  the  poison  is  pnured  oat  through  a  tiny 
hole  at  the  tip  of  each  mandible.  The  poison  sacs  are  partly  in 
the  head  acd  partly  in  the 
npper  joints  of  the  man- 
dibles. 

The  abdomen  has  no 
appendages  but  the  spin- 
nerets. In  our  spiders 
two  of  these  are  long  and  ^^<*-  * 

stand  out  behind  the  sibdomen  like  two  tails  (Fig.  1). 
Most  spiders  have  three  pairs  of  spinnerets  shaped  like 
so  many  knobs.  By  rubbing  one  of  the  hind  feet  over  a 
spinneret  a  sticky  fluid  like  white  of  egg  is  drawn  out 
of  all  the  little  tubes  in  filaments,  which  instantly  harden 
in  the  air.     Hundreds  of  these    strands  unite   to  make 

the  spider's  thread,  so  delicate  and  yet  so  wonderfully 
strong. 

Fig.  5  is  one  of  the  long  spinnerets  of  oor  spider  with  the  tinv 
spinning-tabes,  sp,  on  the  nnder  side  of  the  laut  joint.  Fig.  6 
>how8  the  end  of  h  spider's  leg  with  the  two-toothed  claws,  o,  and 
the  middle  claw,  m.  withont  teeth,  which  is  nsed  as  a  thamb  in 
holding  acd  goiding  the  thread.  These  claws,  as  well  a<*  the 
toothed  hairs,  t,  and  all  the  other  hairs  on  the  leg,  are  so  highly 


82 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


polished   that  it  is  impossible  for  a  spider  to  be  oanght  in  her 
own  web. 

Jnst  in  front  of  the  Bpinnerets  is  the  small  opening  of  the  air- 
tabes,  and  farther  forward  are  two  openings  leading  to  the  pair  of 
air-sacs,  in  which  the  blood  is  purified  as  it  passes  tbroagh  delicate 
membranoas  leaves. 


Fto.  5. 

The  eggs  of  spiders  are  laid  in   dainty  cobweb  cases 

often  found  nnder  sticks  and  stones,  or  hung  up  in  barnn. 

Some  spiders  carry  their  young   about  on    their    backs 

until  the  little  ones  can  look  out  for  themselves. 

Fig.  2  is  a  magnified  view  of  a  young  spider  jnst  from  the  egg, 
with  the  first  moalt,  m.  still  adhering  to  the  end  of  the  abdomen  ; 
y  is  the  same  spider,  nat.nr&l  size ;  and  I,  the  end  of  a  leg  greatly 
magnified  to  show  an  outer  skin  not  yet  shed. 


Fig.  6. 


Many  spiders  live  through  the  winter,  hidiLg  under 
fallen  leaves  and  coming  out  the  first  warm  day  of  spring. 

Suggestions  for  Further  Ohservation. — How  does  the 
round-web  spider  begin  the  web  ?  In  spinning  the  spiral, 
does  she  go  from  the  center  to  the  outside  or  from 
the  outside  to  the  center  ?  Does  the  garden  spider  gen- 
erally stay  on  her  web  ?  Why  does  the  little  gray  jump- 
ing spider  look  so  much  more  wide  awake  than  others  of 
the  same  size  ?  Are  there  any  spiders  that  are  protected 
by  their  color  ? 


THE   GRASSHOPPER. 


Lesson   I. 


The  Tery  largest  grasshoppers  we  conld  find  have  been  preserved 
in  alcohol,  and  from  a  friend  in  Florida  we  have  a  small  jar  of  the 
great  "  labber  grasshoppers,"  three  or  four  inches  long.  Of  onr 
common  ones,  the  flying  grasshoppers  make  the  best  specimens, 
becanse  they  show  so  plainly  the  stractare  of  the  hind  wings.  We 
pin  them  to  bits  of  cork,  and  also  distribate  pins  before  beginning 
the  lesson.  This  insect  is  so  familiar  that  the  children  are  first 
allowed  to  tell  what  they  know  of  its  habits,  and  as  many  points 
of  stmctnre  as  they  can  discover  for  themselves,  without  much 
qaestioning.     Some  of  the  following  observations  are  made : 


f'i«.  1. 


The  grasshopper  has  one  pair  of  long  legs  and  two 
pairs  of  short  legs.  It  lives  in  the  grass,  and  janaps 
with  its  long  legs.     It  has  two  pairs  of  wings.     It  has  a 


83 


84  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

saddle  on  its  back  like  the  lobster.  It  has  one  pair  of 
antennae.  It  has  two  large  eyes.  It  has  a  head*thorax 
and  an  abdomen. 

Is  there  any  movable  joint  between  the  lobster's  head 
and  its  thorax  ? 

No  ;  the  head- thorax  is  all  in  one  piece. 

If  there  is  a  joint  between  the  grasshopper's  head  and 
its  thorax,  which  bears  the  legs,  then  we  will  say  it  has  a 
head  and  a  thorax.  Eas  the  grasshopper  a  head-thorax 
or  a  head  and  a  thorax  ? 

It  has  a  head  and  a  thorax. 

What  are  the  three  parts  of  the  grasshopper's  body  ? 

The  head,  the  thorax,  and  the  abdomen  (Fig.  1, 
A,  B,  C). 

We  observe  next  that  the  grasshopper  has  jointed  ap- 
pendages, that  its  skeleton  is  a  horny  crust  on  the  outside 
of  the  body,  and  that  it  can  be  divided  into  two  equal 
parts  by  a  cut  lengthwise  from  the  head  to  the  eud  of  the 
abdomen.  We  stop  a  moment  to  recall  other  animals 
that  we  have  studied  whose  bodies  can  be  divided  in 
halves  in  the  same  way. 

An  extremely  careful  cuuot  shows  us  that  the  abdo- 
men consists  of  ten  rings.  The  only  appendages  of  the 
abdomen  are  three  pairs  of  hooks,  or  "  egg-points,"  at 
the  end,  forming  the  egg-layer.  A  large  oval  spot  on  the 
first  ring  (Fig.  1,  ea,)  is  the  ear,  one  on  each  side.  We 
think  this  a  curious  place  for  the  ears,  but  remember 
that  the  lobster  carries  its  ears  in  its  small  antennae. 

The  first  ring  of  the  abdomen  (Fig.  1,  c^,)  oan  bu  seen  only  on 
the  back,  aa  it  does  not  reach  wholly  aroand  the  body,  while  in  the 
male  the  ninth  and  tenth  (Fig.  1,  P,  ^^,)  are  much  larger  on  the 
under  side.  I*:  is  often  said  that  the  ovipositor  consists  of  bat  twu 
purs  of  organs  (Fig.  2,  os^  and  oi^,),  probably  becaoae  the  third 
pair  (Fig.  2,  w^,)  are  very  small  and  not  readily  seen  nnless 
the  parts  are  distended.     Neither  are  nataraliscs  agreed  aa  to  the 


The   Grasshopjier.  86 

ears.     They  arn  certainly  sense-organs,  bat  may  not  be  organs  of 
hearing. 

The  collar  behind  the  head  at  first  almost  deceives  us 
into  thinking  it  the  whole  of  the  thorax,  but  we  remem- 
ber just  in  time  that  the  thorax  bears  all  the  legs,  so  this 
can  be  only  the  bafk  of  t.h<^  first  r'ne      On  good  speci- 


mens, children  can  see  that  there  are  two  rings  behind 
this,  both  bearing  legs.  The  thorax,  then,  has  in  all 
three  rings,  and  bears  three  pairs  of  legs. 

Oo  the  side,  the  second  and  third  rings  of  the  thorax,  appear  to 
be  fear  rings  instead  of  two.  This  i9  becaose  the  side  of  each  ring 
consists  of  two  plates  (Fig.  1,  B,  K^  and  hs^,  h^  and  hs^),  which,  in 
the  typical  ring,',  lie  one  above  the  other,  the  upper  one  of  which 
has  here  been  forced  oat  of  its  proper  place  antil  it  lies  behind 
the  other. 

The  number  of  joints  in  the  legs,  the  sharp  spines  with  which 
they  are  armed,  and  the  soft  cushions  padding  the  feet,  will  all 
interest  the  children,  who  will  like  to  spend  as  much  time  on  these 
points  as  can  be  well  spared  for  them. 

The  second  and  third  rings  of  the  thorax  bear  the 
wings-  The  first  pair  of  wings  are  straight  and  long. 
They  meet  on  the  back  and  cover  the  hind  wiags.  The 
hind  wings  are  broad  and  thin,  and  folded  like  a  fan. 
In  the  flying  grasshopper  they  are  often  beautifully 
colored.  The  hind  wings  are  the  ones  chiefly  used  in 
flying,  and  the  fore  wings  are  made  hard  to  protect  them. 


86 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


Lesson  II. 

The  best  way  to  learn  the  external  anatomy  of  this  or  any  other 
insect  is  to  separate  the  body  into  its  various  parts,  and  arrange 
them  on  a  card  with  the  appendages  in  their  proper  places  beside 
them,  as  shown  in  Fig.  1.  Even  if  children  cannot  do  this  with 
perfect  sncceps,  they  will  learn  mach  in  the  attempt. 


l»  (2S) 


^  t«  (J        ^mv 


Fig.  3. 

Review  of  Lesson  I.  —  The  grasshopper  has  head,  thorax,  and 
abdomen.  Its  skeleton  is  a  horny  ornst  that  covers  its  body.  It 
baa  jointed  appendages.  The  thorax  has  three  rings.  Oa  the 
thorax  are  three  pairs  of  legs  and  two  pairs  of  wings.  The  hind 
wings  are  folded  like  a  fan,  and  the  others  are  long  and  straight. 
The  hind  lee^a  are  long  for  jumping.  The  abdomen  has  ten  rings 
and  bears  the  egg-points.  The  ears  are  on  the  first  nog  of  the 
abdomen. 


The   Grasshopper.  87 

Outline  of  New  Work.  —  The  head  is  long  and  moves 
freely  on  the  neck.  There  are  two  large  eyes,  one  on 
each  side  of  the  head.  The  grasshopper  has  one  pair  of 
antenrise.  In  the  center  of  the  forehead  is  a  simple  eye 
(Fig.  2,  oc,)  that  is  easily  seen,  while  two  more  simple 
eyes  (Fig.  2,  oc^,)  are  placed,  one  on  each  side,  in  front 
of  the  compound  eyes. 

Holding  the  head  of  the  grasshopper  firmly  between 
the  fingers,  and  raising  the  loose  flap  that  covers    the 
mouth-parts,  called  the  labrum,  or  upper  lip,  (Figs.  1 
and   2,   la,)    we     see  the    hard,   dark 
brown  mandibles  (Fig.  1,  md,)    having 
strong,  toothed   edges    with   which   the 
grasshopper   cuts  cff   leaves   of   plants. 
Between  these  is  the  mouth.     Below  the 
mouth  lies  what  is  often  called  the  under 
lip,  but  is  really  a  pair  of  united  ap>- 
„.^    ,^  , ..       pendagep,  the   second   pair  of   maxillse 
-/a' vj^j^   iiyj'        (Fig.  1,  mx').     Above  these  and  nearly 
^8-  *  hidden  between  them  and   the   mandi- 

bles are  the  first  pair  of  maxillse  (Fig.  1,  mx^).  In 
Fig.  2  only  the  palpi  or  jointed  feelers  of  the  maxillse 
are   seen. 

Fig.  3,  {n,  is  the  tongne,  which  is  between  the  first  pair  of 
maxillse. 

Some  of  us  have  watched  the  grasshopper  breathe,  and 
know  how  he  seems  to  pant  as  his  body  contracts  and 
expands.  We  look  on  the  sides  of  the  abdomen  for  the 
breathing  holes.  Here  they  are,  seven  of  them  in  plain 
sight,  and  another  high  up  on  the  first  ring  in  front  of 
the  ear  (Fig.  1,  C,  «3_s'o).  They  look  like  tiny  pin- 
holes, just  above  the  fold  on  each  side  of  the  abdomen 
and  close  to  the  forward  margin  of  each  ring.  If  the^^e 
do  not  show  plainly,  a  larger  pair  on  the  thorax  (Fig.  1, 


88  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

B,  «',)  can  often  be  seen  a  little  above  the  second  pair  of 
legs.  There  is  also  one  more  pair  on  the  first  ring  of  the 
thorax. 

Through  the  breathing  holes  air  passes  to  the  wonder- 
ful sets  of  air  tubes  and  air  sacs  found  in  every  part  of 
the  grasshopper's  body.  Fifty-three  of  these  tiny  bal- 
loons have  been  counted  in  the  head  alone.  A  body 
made  so  light  and  buoyant  is  easily  carried  through  the 
air  by  the  strong  wings. 

The  baby  grasshopper,  called  the  larva,  ia  like  its 
mother,  but  has  no  wings.  In  order  to  grow  it  must 
throw  off  its  outer  coat,  just  as  the  young  lobster  does. 
After  it  has  done  this  three  times  little  wing-pads  appear 
on  its  back,  and  it  is  now  called  a  pupa.  Twice  more  it 
casts  off  its  coat,  and  now  it  is  the  full  grown  imago, 
ready  for  flying  or  jumping. 

The  note  of  the  grasshopper  is  produced  by  rubbing 
the  small  teeth  on  the  inner  side  of  the  thigh  of  the  hiod 
leg  against  the  veins  on  the  outer  side  of  the  fore  wing, 
or  wing-cover  as  it  is  often  called.  It  is  easy  to  show 
how  this  is  dune  by  drawing  a  comb  over  the  edge  of  a 
piece  of  stiff  paper. 


THE   CRICKET. 


Most  of  oar  oriokets  are  females  (Fig.  1)  collected  by  the  chil- 
dren in  October  as  they  were  laying  their  eggs  by  the  roadsides  or 
in  gravelly  walks.     After  studying  the 
grasshopper,  it  is  easy  to  begin  work 
upon  this  insect,  and  natural  to  compare 
the  two  at  every  step. 

The  cricket  has  a  shorter  and 
broader  body  than  the  grasshop- 
per. The  two  aides  of  its  body 
are  alike.  The  body  is  in  three 
parts, — head,  thorax,  and  abdo- 
men. It  has  one  pair  of  very  long 
antennae.  It  has  a  pair  of  com- 
pound eyes,  not  so  large  as  the 
grasshopper's.  It  has  three  pairs 
of  legs  on  the  thorax,  the  hind  pair 
very  long  because  it  is  a  jumper. 
The  forward  wings,  or  wing  covers, 
are  short,  covering  only  part  of  the 
abdomen.  The  hind  wings  are 
very  small  and  of  no  ase  in  flying, 
abdomen  there  is  a  long  bristle  (Fig. 


Fig.  1. 

At  the  end  of  the 
1,  se)  on  each  side. 


The  egg-layer  looks  lika  a  long  sting  (o«). 


Nine  rings  can  be  plainly  connted  on  the  back  of  the  abdomen  of 
the  female.  On  each  side  of  the  abdomen  is  a  soft  space  where 
the  breathing-holes  are  seen.  The  ovipositor  separates  into  two 
parts  and  each  of  these  into  two  more,  making  four  long,   sharp 


90  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

piercers,  which  bore  a  hole  in  the  groand  and  then  unite  to  form  a 
canal  through  which  the  egga  pass  down  into  th£  earth. 

The  first  ring  of  the  thorax  has  a  cape  like  the  grass- 
hopper's, but  a  straight,  broad  one,  much  more  like  a  wide 
collar.  The  three  rings  are  plainly  seen  on  the  under 
side.  The  hind  legs  are  long  but  not  so  strong  as  the 
grasshopper's.  The  wing-covers  are  bent  to  fit  the  sides 
of  the  body.  The  wing-covers  of  the  male  are  larger 
than  those  of  the  female,  and  have  a  different  arrange- 
ment of  the  veins. 

It  Ib  by  rubbing  these  strong  veins  of  the  wing-covers  together 
that  the  male  cricket  makes  the  lively  chirp  we  know  so  well. 

The  head  of  the  cricket  is  shorter  and  broader  than 
that  of  the  grasshopper,  but  like  that  is  placed  at  right 
angles  to  the  body.  The  eyes  are  not  so  large  as  the 
grasshopper's.  The  palpi  are  longer  than  the  grasshop- 
per's. Just  below  the  upper  lip  the  hard  mandibles  can 
be  felt.  With  a  pin  the  first  pair  of  maxillse  with  the 
long  palpi  can  be  pushed  outward,  and  the  united  second 
pair  of  maxillee  with  a  shorter  pair  of  palpi  can  be  beut 
downward. 

The  strong  mandibles  are  evidently  fitted  for  biting,  and  we 
know  that  crickets  do  eat  the  tender  parts  of  plants,  even  attack- 
ing roots  and  froits.     When  abundant,  they  do  great  damage. 

The  eggs  laid  in  the  autumn  are  hatched  the  next  sum- 
mer. Most  of  the  old  insects  die  before  cold  weather 
comes,  but  a  few  live  through  the  winter  under  stones  or 
in  dry  holes. 

The  children  must  not  fail  to  see  and  admire  the  white  olimb- 
iog  cricket,  daintiest  and  most  delicately  fashioned  of  all  our  ]!4ew 


The  Cricket. 


91 


England  crickets,  which  lives  on  trees  and  shmbs,  bat  often  seeks 
the  shelter  of  oar  houses  when  the  cooler 
nights  come  in  early  antamn.  The  male 
(Fig.  2)  is  white  with  a  few  yellow  mark- 
ings, with  antPDDse  and  legs  so  fragile  and 
slender  that  a  single  careless  touch  will 
rain  a  specimen.  Bat  let  one  perch  on  the 
window-sill  for  one  night,  and  we  see  how 
eSectaally  this  delicate  little  creature  can 
banish  sleep.  By  rubbing  together  the 
three  large  oblique  veins  on  the  flat  surface 
of  the  wing-covers  he  produces  the  loudest 
and  shrillest  of  all  cricket  notes,  and  keeps 
up  his  serenade  with  unfailing  energy  and 
patience  till  daylight.  The  female,  which 
has  no  note,  is  somewhat  larger  than  the  male,  with  narrower  wing- 
covers  and  of  a  pale  greenish  or  yellowish  color. 


Fig  2. 


THE    BEETLE. 

Specimens  for  this  lesson  are  obtiiined  on  warm  May  or  Jnne 
evenings,  when  the  blundering  brown  May-bng,  June-bng,  or  dor- 
bug  (Fig9.  1  and  2),  as  it  is  variously  called,  enters  at  every  win- 
dow left  open  after  the  evening  lamps  are  lighted,  and  in  its  head- 
long fashion  goes  bumping  into  anything  and  everything  that  stands 
in  its  way.  It  is  said  that  they  may  also  be  collected  by  shaking 
the  fruit  trees,  where  they  hide,  at  an  early  hour  in  the  morning, 
when  they  do  not  attempt  to  fly,  but  fall  to  the  ground.  These 
beetles  do  so  much  harm  in  our  gardens  that  we  do  not  hesitate 
to  put  as  many  as  we  need  into  our  bottle  of  alcohol.  For  our  in- 
aeot-boxes  we  pin  beetles  through  the  right  wing-cover. 


Fig.  1.  Fig.  2. 

The  children  are  all  sure  this  is  a  bag  ;  they  have 
always  heard  it  called  so,  and  the  word  beetle  is  not 
found  in  their  vocabulary.  But  Figs.  3  and  4  show  that 
the  bug  has  a  long  sucking-tube,  which  the  beetle  has  not. 
This  will  be  a  sufficient  distinction  for  the  present,  until 
true  bugs  are  studied.  Now  we  call  our  specimen  the 
June-beetle. 

What  has  the  beetle  that  the  grasshopper  and  the 
cricket  have  also  ? 

It  has  the  three  parts  of  the  body, — head,  thorax,  and 
abdomen.  It  has  three  pairs  of  legs.  It  has  two  pairs 
of  wings.     It  has  one  pair  of  compound  eyes. 


The    Beetle. 


93 


Later  we  shall  add  that  it  has  one  pair  of  antennsB,  bat  the  chil- 
dren may  not  see  them  on  this  beetle  till  the  head  is  carefully  ex- 
amined by  itself. 

The  grasshopper,  the  cricket,  and  the  beetle,  are  all 
called  insects.  In  studying  our  new  insect  we  will  com- 
pare it  with  the  grasshopper. 

The  body  is  shorter  and  broader  than  the  grasshopper's. 
It  is  covered  with  a  horny  crust,  much  harder  than  the 
grasshopper's.     This  crust  is  its  skeleton. 

The  fore  wings  are  like  two  hard  shells  covering  the 
back.  They  protect  the  other  wings,  and  are  called  wing- 
covers.  They  meet  in  a  straight  line  down  the  back, 
and  cover  the  hind  wings  completely.  If  we  should  cut 
the  beetle  in  two  between  the  wing-covers,  the  two  halves 
would  be  just  the  same  size. 
There  is  a  little  shield  be-  A•^Te«|l^  ^^ 
tween  the  wing-covers. 

The  first  ring  of  the  thorax 
is  very  large,  the  second  and 
third,  thoagh  large,  are  not 
seen  on  the  back,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  little  shield  that 
belongs  to  the  second  ring. 

The  hind  wings  are 
thin  with  very  strong 
veins  and  a  joint  near  the 

middle  so  that  they  can  be  doubled  up  under  the  wing- 
covers. 

The  female  nses  the  strong  spines  on  the  legs  in  digging  her  way 
into  the  earth,  where  she  lays  her  eggs. 

The  broad  and  short  abdomen  is  soft  on  the  back  be- 
cause protected  by  the  wing-covers.  There  is  no  egg- 
layer.  The  breathing-holes  are  plainly  seen  on  the  sides 
of  the  rings. 


NJouTi-pwa. 


¥nm- 


Fig.  4. 
Month-Parts 
of  Beetle 


94 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


The  beetle  has   a  pair  of  compound  eyes.     It  has  a 
little  flat  piece  that  comes  out  over  the  mouth.     There  is 


NlAXILLAi ^<y  I 


MANDIBLE /}   Q 

LABRUM "Tg 

Antcnn/k 

Compound  Eye i,,^ 

hrstleq rr 


UYTFiONfOK. 
Second  Lcq 

Thiro  LEq 


First 


PHQTHOfiAX 
Z^.MeSOTHORAli 

Mbtathorak] 


MouthPARTS 


.HEAD 


.ABDOM£N 


FlQ.  6. 


a  pair  of  queer  little  things  that  have  an  elbow  near  the 
middle  and  a  little  club  at  the  end.  These  must  be  the 
antennae,  and  the  little  club  is  made  of  three  leaves. 

With  magnifying  glasses  we  also  see  at  least  one  pair 
of  palpi,  and  with  a  pin  we  assure  ourselves  that  the 
beetle  has  hard  mandibles. 

From  the  card  on  which  the  moath-parts  are  glaed,  and  from 
the  blackboard  drawing  of  Fig.  4,  ihe 
class  observe  that  the  beetle  has  the 
same  month-parts  as  the  grasshopper. 
Id  Fig.  5  the  nnited  second  maxillae 
are  indicated  by  their  other  name  of 
labiom  or  lower  lip. 

On  a  male  stag  beetle  (Fig.  6) 
we  now  find  the  enormous 
hooked  mandibles,  the  long  fii'st 
pair  and  shoi't  second  pair  of 
palpi,  the  sort  of  tongue  formed 
of  brushes  of  hairs  attached  to  Fig  6. 


The  Beetle. 


95 


both  pairs  of  maxillae  and  the  antennae  ending  in  four  sepa- 
rated leaves. 

The   grub  of   the   Jane   beetle    (Fig.    7)    is   a   large 
white  worm  with  a  brownish  head  and  strong  jaws,  which 


Fig.  7. 


Fig.  8. 


lives  in  the  earth  and  devours  the  roots  of  grass  and 
other  plants.  The  pupa  (Fig.  8)  lies  quietly  in  its 
cocoon  in  the  earth  until  it  comes  out  as  the  perfect  insect. 


THE   DRAGON-FLY. 


Dragon-flies  may  be  caught  with  a  net  near  ponds  and  streams, 
where  the  larvae  are  found  in  the  water  daring  Jaly  and  Angu^t, 
and  the  pnpae  in  spring  and  antnmn.  The  larvae  and  papae  can  be 
kept  in  the  schoolroom  in  a  jar  of  water,  with  sand  at  the  bottom. 
The  latter  will  need  a  water-plant,  or  some  leaves  and  twigs,  to 
which  they  can  oling.  The  contrast  between  the  slngrgiah  yonng 
and  the  swift-flying  adnit  insect  will  seem  to  children  so  marvelons 
that  it  will  awaken  a  new  interest  in  insect  study.  It  gives  them 
a  glimpse  of  the  possibilities  the  insect  world  offers  of  new 
discoveries,  and  miakes  them  eager  to  observe  living  forms,  the  very 
thing  we  most  want  them  to  do. 


The  dragon-fly  has  the  three  parts  of  the  hody,  but  the 
abdomen  is  very  long.  His  head  is  so  loose  it  looks  as 
if  it  might  drop  o£f.  He  has  a  hump  on  his  back  because 
his  thorax  is  so  high.  He  has  three  pairs  of  legs  and  two 
pairs  of  wings.  The  legs  are  all  crowded  together.  The 
wings  are  very  large,  and  the  two  pairs  are  nearly  the 
same  size.     He  uses  both  pairs  in  flying.     The  dragonfly 


The  Dragon-fly. 


97 


has  enormoas  compoand  eyes,  that  meet  on  the  top  of  his 
head.     His  antennae  are  only  two  little  bristles. 

The  abdomen  has  ten  rings.  It  has  a  very  small 
egg-layer. 

The  homy  ridges  on  the  second  and  third  rings,  one  of  whieh  is 
seen  in  Fig.  1,  may  lead  pupils  to  count  twelve  rings  instead  of  ten, 
but  by  comparison  with  the  sutures  between  the  rings,  the  ridges 
are  seen  not  to  be  trne  sutures. 

All  the  rings  of  the  thorax  can  be  seen  on  the  back  of 

the   dragon-fly.     The   first   ring   is   very  small,  but  the 

second  and  third  rings  are  large  because  they  carry  those 

great  wings.     The  wings  are  beautifully  veined.     There 

are  long,  straight  veins  on  the 

front  margin,   and   the  rest   of 

the  wing   is    net-veined. 


Fig.  2. 


Fig.  3. 


As  the  dragon-fly  never  alights,  but  always  hangs  by  the  second 
and  third  pairs  of  feet,  the  legs  are  drawn  forward  and  the  rings  of 
the  thorax  inclined  in  the  same  direction.  A  voracious  eater,  the 
deadly  enemy  of  gnats  and  mosqaitoes,  the  dragon-fly  must  catoh 
its  food  "  on  the  flf."  For  this  purpose,  see  its  immense  compound 
eyes,  literally  "  on  all  sides  of  its  head  "  ;  the  head  itself  so  loosely 
hung  that  it  can  be  turned  in  any  direction,  or  thrown  backward 
till  it  touches  the  second  ring  of  the  thorax,  while  the  flrst  ring  of 
the  thorax  moves  so  freely  that  the  first  pair  of  legs,  used  only  for 
seizing  prey,  can  readily  follow  the  rapid  motions  of  the  head. 

Grasping  the  head  and  thorax  of  the  dragon-fly  firmly, 
and  looking  at  the  head  from  in  front,  as  shown  in  Fig.  2, 
we  see  a  little  horny  projection  in  front  of  the  compound 


98 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


eyes  and  between  the  antennae.  The  largest  of  the  sinaple 
eyes  (Fig.  2,  oc)  is  in  front  of  this  projection,  the  two 
smaller  (pe')  at  either  side  of  it.  The  upper  lip  (la)  is 
easily  lifted  with  a  pin,  and  just  below  it  are  the  dark 
brown,  horny  mandibles  {md)  and  the  second  maxillae 
{mz"),  which  hide  away  in  their  broad  cavity  the  small 
first  maxiUse  and  the  thick  tongue. 

Fig.  3  represents  a  larva  collected  in   Angnst,  three  times  life 
size,  mx"  being  the  mask  ;  w'  and  w",  wing-pada  jast  appearing. 


mx 


In  Fig.  4,  the  pupa  is  shown  with  the  spoon-shaped 
mask  (mx")  extended  to  seize  food.  This  mask  is  the 
greatly  enlarged  second  pair  of  maxillae,  and  when  not  in 
use,  is  folded  back  over  the  mouth  so  as  to  hide  the 
strong  mandibles. 

The  dragon-fly  lays  its  eggs  on  water-plants.  When 
the  pupa  is  ready  for  the  last  change,  it  climbs  up  on 
some  plant,  the  skin  of  its  back  splits  open,  and  the 
dragon-fly  pulls  itself  out.  This  insect  does  not  deserve 
the  name  "  darning-needle,"  since  it  has  neither  sting  nor 
powerfol  jaws,  but  its  threatening  appearance  may  well 
gain  for  it  the  name  dragon-fly. 


THE   BUG. 


Moat  of  ns  have  a  prejudice  against  bugs,  which  has  some  reason 
for  its  existence  in  the  disagreeable  character  of  many  that  bear 
this  name,  bnt  the  remarkable  adaptations  to  their  mode  of  life 

shown  by  some  of  these  in- 
sects will  awaken  our  inter- 
est in  spite  of  oarselves. 

The  sqaash-bag,  shown 
enlarged  in  Fig.  1,  gives  a 
good  idea  of  the  character- 
istic form  of  the  body,  and 
also  of  the  peculiar  wings, 
and  is  easily  found  on  sqnash- 
vines.  It  is  too  small  for 
the  mouth-parts,  but  these 
are  well  shown  by  the  com- 
mon Cicada,  or  harvest  fly 
(Fig.  2),  while  if  tbe  teacher 
can  have  one  of  the  "  giant 
water-bugs"  (Fig.  3),  she 
will  find  it  invaluable.  One  of  the  most  interesting  species,  and 
therefore  one  that  we  cannot  affoid  to  do  without,  is  the  lively 
water-boatman  (Fig.  4),  which  children  can  collect  from  the  ponds. 

The  squash-bug  has  a  small,  pointed  head.  It  has 
head,  thorax,  and  abdomen.  The  abdomen  is  flat  on  the 
back  and  rounded  below.  The  head  is  much  lower  than 
the  back  of  the  thorax  and  tbe  abdomen.  There  are 
three  pairs  of  legs,  used  for  walking,  not  for  jumping. 
There  are  two  pairs  of  wings.  The  forward  pair  are 
thickened  in  front  and  thin  behind,  and  they  overlap. 
They  are  called  wing-covers.     The  hind  wings  are  thin. 

Some  will  undoubtedly  fail  to  see  from  their  specimens  that  the 
wing-covers  are  half  membranous,  but  the  "  giant "  will  make  this 
very  clear. 


FiQ.  1. 


100 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


The  abdomen  has  no  appendages.  It  has  a  little  rim 
spotted  with  yellow,  that  comes  out  beyond  the  wing- 
covers.     The  breathing-holes  are  on  the  sides. 


aC— 


Fig.  2. 

On  the  nnder  side  of  the  body  the  three  rings  of  the  thorax  are 
seen,  bat  only  the  first  riog  (Fig.  !>  &')  and  the  shield  (b")  of  the 
second  on  the  upper  side. 

Besides  the  two  rather  small  compound  eyes,  there  are 
two  simple  eyes.  The  antennae 
are  long  and  rather  large.  The 
mouth  parts  look  like  a  long  sting. 

The  month- parts  of  the  Cicada  are 
like  those  of  the  sqnaah-bng  magnified, 
and  are  large  enongh  for  children  to 
separate  and  describe,  so 
we  turn  to  the  Cicada  now. 

Fig  5  is  a  magnified 
view  of  the  head  of  the 
eqnasb-bng  with  the  month- 
parts  separated. 

There  are  two  pairs 
of  long,  sharp  needles 
for  piercing  (Fig.  5, 
a   short,    horny    upper    lip    {la). 

There  is  a  long,  jointed  tube   {mxf'),  in  which  the  two 

pairs  of  needles  lie. 


Fl«.  3 

«ia/,  md).     There 


Fjg    4. 


The  Bug. 


101 


Since  we  have  always  fonnd  three  pain  of  month- parts  on  insects, 
and  have  already  seen  that  the  second  maxillae  may  be  so  changed 
as  to  form  the  mask  of  the  yonng  dragon-fly,  children  will  Bee  after 
a  little  questioning,  if  not  before,  that  the  long  tnbe  is  the  second 
pair  of  maxillse,  and  the  needles  are  modified  mandibles  and  first 
maxillse.     The  tissaes  of  plants  are  pierced  with  the  sharp  needles, 


Fig.  5. 

and  their  jnioes  are  drawn  in  through  the  snckincr-tnbe.  The  tri- 
angular head,  with  its  broad  base,  is  firmly  braced  against  the 
broad  thorax  to  famish  a  strong  snpport  for  tlie  thmst  with  the 
needles. 

In  August  the  light  brown  larva  (Fig.  6,  three  times 
life-size)  and  the  pupa  of  the  squash-bag  can  be  collected 
on  the  leaves  of  squash- vines.  The  pupa  resembles  the  full- 
grown  insect,  but  is  lighter 
in  color  and  has  only  wing- 
pads  in  place  of  wings. 

Comparison  of  the  beetle 
and  the  bug.  —  The  beetle 
has  a  hard  crust.  Its  wing- 
covers  are  hard  and  horny, 
and  meet  in  a  straight  line 
down  the  back.  The  hind 
wings  are  doubled  up  under 
the  wing-covers.  The  beetle 
has  hard  mandibles  for  bit- 
ing, and  two  pairs  of  maxillae  with  palpi. 


Fig.  6. 


102  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

The  bug  has  wing-covers  half  horny  and  crossing  on 
the  back.  It  has  a  small,  pointed  head.  Its  mouth- 
parts  are  a  sucking- tube  and  two  pairs  of  needles. 

This  comparisoD  is  soffioient  to  enable  one  always  to  distingoiah 
these  two  orders  of  insects.  If,  however,  we  have  observed  them 
in  all  stages  of  growth,  we  can  add  the  very  important  difference 
that  while  the  yoang  bug  resembles  its  parent  in  a  general  way  and 
the  active  papa  is  still  more  like  it,  both  living  on  eqaash-vines, 
the  larva  of  the  Jane  beetle  is  worm-like  and  lives  in  the  groand, 
and  the  papa  ia  qaiet  in  a  cocoon. 


THE    CICADA. 

The  Cicada,  or  harvest-fly,  will  famish  material  for  an  interest- 
ing lesson.  An  abandance  of  the  cast-off  papa  skins  can  be  col- 
lected by  the  children,  and  will  not  only  show  perfectly  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  papa,  bat  will  gfive  an  excellent  idea  of  the  homy 
external  skeleton  o(  an  insect  and  the  complete  manner  in  which  it 
is  stripped  off  to  allow  for  growth. 

The  body  is  broad  and  short.  The  eyes  (Fig.  1,  ej/) 
stand  oat  on  the  sides  of  the  head,  and  there  are  three 
simple  eyes  between  them.  The  antennae  (at)  are  like 
bristles.  The  first  and  second  rings  of  the  thorax  (b'  and 
b")  are  very  broad  ;  the  third  is  very  narrow,  because  it 
carries  only  the  small  hind  wings. 


at— 


Fig.  1. 

There  are  light  spots  on  the  head  and  thorax,  and  on  the  second 
ring  of  the  thorax  a  marking  that  looks  like  the  letter  W.  This 
mark  was  long  supposed  to  stand  for  the  word  War,  and  made  the 
saperstitiooB  believe  the  harvest-fly  an  insect  of  ill  omen. 

The  wingfs  slope  like  a  roof  over  the  sides  of  the  body, 
and  both  pairs  are  thin.  The  veins  of  the  fore  wings 
are  very  large  and  strong.     The  abdomen  ends  in  an  egg- 

108 


104 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


layer.     Some  of  the  harvest-flies  have  two  broad  plates 
on  the  under  side  of  the  abdomen. 

These  plates  are  found  on  the  male,  and  cover  the  kettledrnms, 
by  which  he  makes  the  shrill  soand  we  know  so  well  in  dog-days. 

The  month-parts  having  been  described  in  the  last  lesson,  are 
omitted  here,  bnt  wonld  of  course  be  reviewed  in  the  schoolroom. 

The  pnpa  has  very  large  fore  legs,  like  great  claws. 
It  has  a  sucking- tube  like  its  parent.  All  the  rings  of 
the  thorax  show  plainly.  The  first  and  second  rings  are 
very  large ;  the  third  ring  is  small.  The  horny  outer 
layer  of  the  antennae  and  the  eyes  is  cast  off  with  the  rest 
of  the  skeleton. 


Fis.  2. 


Fig.  3. 


With  the  strong,  horny  piercer  at  the  end  of  the  abdomen  the 
female  makes  hollows  in  twigs  in  which  to  lay  her  eggs.  The 
larva  (Fig.  2)  is  hatched  on  the  tree,  but  lets  itself  fall  to  the 
ground,  being  so  light  that  it  descends  very  slowly  and  is  not  injured 
by  the  fall.  It  then  burrows  in  the  earth,  where  it  sucks  the  sap 
from  roots.  One  species  of  harvest-fly  passes  seventeen  years  in 
the  earth  as  larva  and  pnpa ;  others  common  in  New  England  re- 
quire only  one  or  two  5  ears  for  their  transformations.  The  pupa 
at  last  digs  its  way  out  of  the  earth  with  its  big  fore  claws,  climbs 
some  tree,  its  skin  splits  on  the  back,  and  the  harveat-fly  comes  out. 

Fig.  8  shows  the  insect  making  its  way  out  of  the  pnpa  skin. 

The  water-boatman,  mentioned  in  the  last  lesson,  is  a  difEerent 
type,  and  should  be  studied  from  living  insects  kept  in  jars  in  the 


Ths   Cicada.  106 

schoolroom.  The  jara  mnst  be  covered  with  netting  to  prevent 
these  active  little  bags  from  flying  away. 

We  discover  that  the  water-boatman  is  a  true  bug  by 
feeding  it  with  meat  and  watching  the  sucking-tube,  or 
by  handling  it  carelessly  and  letting  it  use  its  sharp 
needles  on  our  fingers. 

Its  body  is  boat-shaped,  its  back  being  the  keel,  hence 
it  swims  back  downward.  The  under  side,  which  is  flat, 
forms  the  deck,  with  an  upper  deck  of  hairs  above  it. 
Under  the  wings  it  keeps  the  supply  of  air  for  which  it 
often  comes  to  the  surface.  The  fringed  hind  legs  are 
the  principal  pair  of  oars,  working  smoothly  in  their  row- 
locks. The  other  two  pairs  are  held  out  in  front  for 
seizing  prey.  It  feathers  its  oars  by  pressing  the  hairs 
to  the  hind  leg  when  drawing  it  forward,  and  spreading 
them  in  drawing  it  back. 


THE    FLY. 


The  big  buzzing  "  bine-bottle,"  or  any  of  the  common  flies  found 
about  houses,  can  be  used  for  this  lesson,  though  the  green-headed 
horse-fly  (Fig.  1)  is  better,  if  it  can  be  obtained.  Most  of  the  de- 
scriptions here  given  will  apply  to  either  of  these.  The  crane-flies 
with  their  delicate  wings  and  long,  slender  bodies,  are  also  invala- 
sble  as  specimens. 

The  fly  is  an  insect.  It  has  a  short,  broad  body.  It 
has  head,  thorax,  and  abdomen.  It  has  three  pairs  of 
legs.     It  has  one  pair  of  wings  and  one  pair  of  balancers 


Fig.  1. 

The  last  statement  can  be  made  only  after  careful  obseryation. 
The  little  scale  or  winglet  on  each  side  (Fig.  2,  sc)  will  at  first  be 
taken  for  another  wing,  but  after  drawing  the  wing  forward  several 
times  we  discover  that  the  winglet  moves  with  it  and  must  be  a 
part  of  it.  Hence  there  can  be  but  one  pair  of  wings.  Jnst  under 
the  winglets  is  a  pair  of  tiny  whitish  knobs  on  slender  stems  (Fig. 
3,  to")  known  as  the  balancers. 

Fig.  2  represents  the  second  ring  of  the  thorax  of  the  horse-fly, 
and  Fig.  3  the  third  ring,  with  the  appeodagea  of  one  side.  The 
balancers,  being  the  greatly  reduced  second  pair  of  wings,  are  borne 
on  the  third  thoracic  ring. 

106 


Tke    Fly. 


107 


The  fly  has  very  large  compound  eyes  that  make  its 
head  look  very  broad.  The  house-fly  has  short,  feathery 
antennae.     Its  tongue  is  large  and  broad  at  the  end. 

The  abdomen  is  very  short  and  broad  in  front.  It  is 
covered  with  hairs.     We  can  see  only  four  or  five  rings. 


Fig   2. 

The  thorax  is  nearly  as  large  as  the  abdomen.  It  is 
covered  with  hair.  It  is  joined  to  the  head  by  a  small 
neck.  The  legs  are  all  nearly  the  same  size.  The  feet 
have  tfro  claws  and  two  little  light-colored  cushions. 


Fig.  8. 

The  little  onahion,  bo  deeply  oleft  that  it  looks  like  two.  has  on 
ifco  Borf  ace  hairs  that  poor  oat  a  sticky  liqaid  by  which  the  fly  olinga 
when  walking  npside  down. 

The  antennsB  of  the  house  fly  are  nanally  in  alcoholic  specimens 
bent  down  closely  against  the  face,  bat  with  the  feathery  bristles 
projecting  more  or  less,  so  that  one  is  apt  to  mistake  them  for  the 


108 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


wbole  of  the  antennse.  They  are  really,  however,  attached  to  one 
side  of  the  trae  feelers.  The  tongue,  consiBting  of  the  modified 
second  maxillsB,  is  the  only  oonapioaons  month-part.  There  are 
neither  mandibles  nor  first  maxillae  in  this  form,  bat  with  a  good 
magnifying  glass  one  can  see  the  large  palpi  of  the  first  maxillae 
and  the  long,  horny  upper  lip  closely  pressed  over  the  npper  aide 
of  the  tongne.  The  two  broad  lobes  that  form  the  end  of  the 
tongue  are  roughened  by  cross-bars  (Fig.  4). 


Fig.  4. 

The  house-fly  simply  laps  his  food,  and  has  no  need  of 
pincers,  but  the  horse-fly  has  sharp,  lance-like  naandibles 
(Fig  4,  md)  and  first  maxillse  (mx'),  adapted  for  piercing 
the  skin  of  horses  and  cai;tle,  in  addition  to  the  long  la- 
brum,  or  upper  lip  {la),  the  broad  tongue  {mx"),  and  the 
palpi  of  the  first  maxillae  (x').  The  antennje  (at)  are 
also  shown.  In  the  curious  large  robber-flies,  or  insect- 
hawks  (Fig.  5),  which  attack  bees,  beetles,  and  other  in- 
sects, the  mouth-parts  form  a  powerful  black  sting. 

The  eggs  of  the  house-fly  are  laid  in  stables,  where  the 
larva  lives  for  several  days  as  a  white  maggot  without 
feet,  then  in  a  week  of  quiet  the  pupa  changes  to  the 
perfect  insect,  which  buzzes  about  our  houses  for  a  few 
weeks  more. 


The  Fly. 


109 


In  the  crapne-fly  the  balancers  stand  out  well  from  the 
body,  and  one  can  see  plainly  that  their  slender  stalks  are 
borne  on  the  last  ring  of  the  thorax.  The  large,  high, 
second  ring  of  the  thorax,  tbe  long  abdomen  and  long 
wings  remind  us  of  the  dragon-fly,  but  the  single  pair  of 
wings  and  the  prominent  balancers  show  ns  it  can  be 
nothing  bat  a  fly,  even  without  an  examination  of  the 
mouth-parts. 


Fig.  5. 

The  large  flies  that  mimic  beea  and  are  oommon  around  plants, 
are  excellent  sabjects  for  stndy  after  the  bee  has  been  taken. 


THE   BUTTERFLY. 

Whatever  difficulty  they  may  have  in  seonring  specimens  for 
other  lessons,  ohildren  can  always  catch  butterflies  and  caterpillars , 
Butterflies  may  be  killed  with  chloroform  or  benzine,  and  the  wings 
spread  on  a  setting-board  made  by  nailing  two  cleats  lengthwise  on 
a  piece  of  wood  with  a  space  between  them  wide  enoagh  for  the 
body  of  the  insect.  When  dried,  the  bntterflies  may  be  pinned  in  a 
box  with  strips  of  cork  glued  inside  the  bottom.  Caterpillars  are 
put  in  boxes,  fed  with  fresh  leaves,  and  kept  through  their  trans- 
formations,  while  chrysalids  can  be  gathered  in  the  autumn. 


FlK.  1. 

Cabbage  butterflies  (Fig.  1)  are  always  plenty,  and  will  do  very 
well,  if  larger  ones  are  not  at  hand.  Specimens  for  study  may  be 
kept  without  pinning  in  boxes  or  envelopes.  Two  days  before  the 
lesson  they  should  be  placed  upon  thin  paper  over  wet  sand.  This 
will  soften  them  so  that  they  can  be  handled  without  breaking 
easily.  Butterflies  kept  in  alcohol  will  be  perfectly  flexible,  but 
will  have  no  btight  colors,  and  ohildren  will  not  feel  that  they  are 
the  real  thing. 

The  cabbage  butterfly  has  two  pairs  o£  very  large 
wings.  They  are  white  with  two  black  spots  and  a 
black  patch  on  the  forward  ones,  and  one  black  spot  on 
the  hind  ones. 

110 


The  Butterfly. 


Ill 


The  male  has  hat  one  black  spot  on  each  fore  wing. 

If  we  rub  the  dust  ofiE  the  wings,  they  lose  their  color 
and  are  transparent.  When  the  butterfly  rests,  it  carries 
its  wings  ereot  over  its  back.  Its  body  is  very  small  for 
its  wing^.  The  rings  show  plainly  on  the  abdomen.  The 
head  and  thorax  are  hairy. 

The  haira  and  scales  mast  be  rabbed  ofiE  in  order  that  the  three 
regions  of  the  body  may  be  dearly  seen. 

The  butterfly  has  a  pair  of  antennae  shaped  like  clubs 
with  long  handles.  It  has  two  large  compound  eyes. 
It  has  a  long  tongue  coiled  up  tightly  under  its  face 
(Fig.  2,  wiic',)  It  has  two  little  bunches  of  hairs  stand- 
ing up  in  front  of  its  forehead  (Figs.  1  and  2,  x^). 

Fig.  2  represents  the  sncking  tube  and  one  of  the  palpi  of  the 
monarch  or  milk-weed  bntterfly. 


Fig.  2 


Fig.  3. 


The  two  "  bunches  of  hairs  "  are  the  palpi  belonging 
to'  the  second  pair  of  maxillae.  Though  these  maxillae 
are  either  obsolete  or  very  minute  in  butterflies,  their 
palpi  form  two  large  hairy  cushions,  between  which  rests 
the  coiled  tongue  or  sucking  tube,  (Fig.  2,  7?uc').  The 
latter  is  the  greatly  lengthened  first  maxillae,  their  edges 


112  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

united  to  form  a  closed  tube,  through  which  the  honey  of 
the  flowers  is  carried  to  the  mouth.  Mandibles  are  of  no 
use  and  extremely  minute,  if  present  at  all. 

After  the  scales  are  rnbbed  cff,  the  children  draw  the  wings,  no- 
ticing the  long  veins  evenly  distribnted  over  them.  Snch  a  wing 
cannot  give  a  strong  downward  stroke,  hence  the  fluttering  of  the 
bntterfly.  If  a  microscope  can  be  prooared,  a  bit  of  a  wing  with 
some  of  the  scales  still  on  it  may  now  be  shown  (Fig.  3),  each  child 
looking  at  it  in  tarn  while  the  others  draw. 

The  butterfly's  legs  are  small  and  weak,  because  but 
little  used. 

Fig.  4.  Fig.  5.  Fig.  6. 

The  caterpillar  of  the  cabbage  butterfly  (Fig.  4)  has  a 
long,  greenish  body.  The  rings  of  the  thorax  are  like 
those  of  the  abdomen.  The  legs  on  the  thorax  are  very 
small  and  end  in  little  claws.  There  are  five  pairs  of 
legs  on  the  abdomen  ending  in  broad  cushions.  The 
breathing  holes  show  very  plainly  on  the  abdomen.  Since 
the  caterpillar  feeds  on  leaves,  it  has  strong  mandibles 
for  biting. 

In  its  winter  sleep  in  the  chrysalis  the  caterpillar  is 
transformed  into  a  butterfly.  It  prepares  for  the  change 
by  seeking  the  under  side  of  some  fence  rail  (Fig.  4),  fix- 
ing itself  by  its  tail,  and  spinning  a  strong  silken  band 
around  the  middle  of  its  body  to  hold  it  in  place  (Fig.  5). 
In  its  firm  chrysalis  skin  (Fig.  6)  it  defies  Jack  Frost, 
and  comes  out  in  the  spring  a  perfect  butterfly. 


THE   MOTH. 

This  lesson  may  be  made  intensely  interesting  by  nsing  large 
moths  and  batteiflies  and  oompariog  them  at  every  step.  It  is 
not  necessary  that  all  the  butterflies  or  all  the  moths  should  belong 
to  the  same  species.  The  common  milkweed  batterfly,  Danais 
ArchippuM  (Fig.  1),  or  the  large  yellow  and  black  swallow-tail, 
PapUio  Turnus,  will  be  ezcelUnt  in  comparison  with  the  American 
silkworm  moth,  Telea  Polyphemus  (Fig.  2),  or  either  of  the  large 
moths  somewhat  resembling  it.  If  some  of  the  class  have  hawk- 
moths  (Fig.  6),  it  will  be  all  the  better,  especially  if  they  can  tell 
from  their  own  observation  that  these  are  more  rapid  fliers  than  the 
others,  and  thus  see  the  use  of  the  longer,  more  pointed,  and  more 
powerful  fore  wings  and  the  small  hind  wings  working  with  them. 
The  Polyphemus  is  here  taken  first  as  the  basis  of  the  lesson. 


Fig.  l.t 
The  body  of  the  moth  is  broader  and  stronger  than 
that  of  the  batterfly.     It  has  a  thicker  coating  of  hair. 
The  wings  are  larger  and  not  so  brightly  colored.     The 


t  From  Hyatt's  Inaecta ;  D.  C.  Heath  &  Co.,  publishers,  Boston. 
118 


114 


Lessflvs  in  Zoology. 


Pig.  2.  f 


t  From  Hyatt's  Jnsecta ;  D.  C.  Heatb  &  Co.,  publishers,  Boston. 


The  Moth.  115 

antennae  are  not  shaped  like  clabs,  but  are  feathered.  The 
moath-parts  are  so  small  that  nothing  but  thick  cushions 
of  soft  hairs  can  be  seen  on  the  under  side  of  the  head. 

Thia  moth  probably  lives  bat  a  short  time  aad  eata  little,  since  it 
can  only  lap  op  its  food. 


Fig.  3  t 

Most  moths  fly  at  twilight  or  in  the  night,  while  butter- 
flies fly  by  day.  When  moths  are  at  rest,  their  wings 
form  a  sloping  roof  over  the  body. 

The  Polyphemus  moth  generally  lays  its  eggs  on  oak 
leaves.  The  huge  caterpillar  (Fig.  3)  is  bright  green 
without  yellow  stripes  or  bands,  but  with  rows  of  hairy 
warts,  and  an  oblique  white  line  on  the  side  of  each  ring. 
Its  head  and  feet  are  brown,  and  the  tail  is  bordered  by 
a  brown  Y-shaped  line.  It  makes  a  beautiful  cocoon  of 
glossy  silken  threads  covered  on  the  outside  with  leaves 
(Fig.  4),  in  which  it  safely  passes  the  winter.  When  the 
leaves  fall  in  the  autumn,  the  tough  oval  cocoon  enclosed 
in  them  is  borne  to  the  ground.  If  one  of  these  cocoons 
is  opened,  the  pupa  looks  as  in  Fig.  6.  Its  body  is  much 
shorter  than  that  of  the  caterpillar  and  covered  with  a 

t  From  Hyatt's  Insecta;  D.  G.  Heath  St  Co.,  pablisbers,  Boston. 


116 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


hard  brown  skin.  The  wings  and  antennae  are  glued  to 
the  under  side  of  the  body,  and  the  breathing-holes  show 
plainly  on  the  sides  of  the  rings.  The  moth  comes  oat 
during  May  in  Massachusetts.  When  the  time  comes 
for  it  to  leave  the  cocoon,  by  means  of  an  acid  liquid  it 
dissolves  the  gum  that  holds  the  silken  threads  together 
and  then  emerges  without  breaking  the  silk.  Inside  may 
be  found  the  pupa-skin  it  has  left  behind. 


.v^^kM 


The  hawk-moth  (Fig.  6)  has  no  bright-colored  spots 
or  markings.  Its  antennae  are  not  feathered  and  end  in 
a  small  hook.  Its  sucking-tube  is  very  long,  so  that  it 
can  reach  the  honey  in  long-tubed  flowers.  By  scraping 
the  hairs  and  scales  from  the  under  side  of  the  wings,  the 
little  hook  or  bristle  on  the  hind  wing  and  the  ring 
through  which  it  passes  on  the  fore  wing  can  be  seen. 


Fig.  5. 

An  intereaUng  observation  for  pnpils  in  the  ooantry  is  to  watoh 
this  moth  at  twilight  as  it  poises  on  its  quivering  wings  over  some 
large  flower  and  thrnsti  its  sncking-tabe  do«ra  to  its  ba3e.     From 


The  Moth. 


Ill 


Fig   6  t 


t  From  Hyatt's  Tnaecta;  D.  U.  Heatb  &  Co.,  publishers,  Boston. 


118 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


its  imitating  the  motions  of  the  homming-bird  in  this  way,  it  is 
often  called  the  hnmming-bird  moth. 


Fig.  7.  t 

The  caterpillars  of  the  large  moths  are  all  enormous 
eaters,  and  many  of  them  are  the  great  green  "  worms," 
so  called.  The  "  potato  worm  "  (Fig.  7), — found  also  on 
tobacco  and  the  tomato, — is  the  larva  of  the  hawk-moth 
shown  in  Fig.  6.  This  larva  will  often  remain  for  some 
time  motionless  on  a  stem  with  the  head  and  front  part  of 
the  body  stretched  upward,  and  from  this  habit  the  moths 
are  named  the  Sphinxes. 


t  From  Hyatt's  Insecta;  D.  G.  Heath  &  Ck) ,  publishers,  Boston. 


THE   BEE. 

Lesson  I. 

Of  coarse  we  choose  the  honey-bee  (Fig.  1)  for  this  lesson. 
With  a  wide-monthed  bottle  partly  filled  with  dilate  alcohol  we 
take  oar  stand  beside  a  clamp  of  tall  plants  in  blossom,  and  in  a 
single  morning  captare  beea  enoagh  for  a  large  class.  When  ihe 
busy  little  brown-coated  worker  has  its  head  well  baried  in  the 
flower,  it  is  easy  to  place  the  bottle  ander  the  month  of  the  flower 
and  with  the  cork  press  the  bee  down  into  it.  Only  the  knowledge 
that  in  no  other  way  can  we  become  acqaainted  with  the  strnotore 
of  these  little  creatares  reconciles  ns,  however,  to  the  marder  of 
these  indastrioos  and  osefal  iaseots. 


Fig.l. 

The  head  and  thorax  are  thickly  covered  with  hairs. 
The  body  is  short  and  strong.  The  three  divisions  of  the 
body  are  plainly  seen.  The  abdomen  is  connected  with 
the  thorax  by  a  small  joint.  There  are  two  pairs  of 
wings,  but  the  hind  wings  are  so  small  and  fit  so  closely 
to  the  edge  of  the  fore  wings  that  when  they  are  spread 
they  look  like  a  single  pair. 

The  hind  legs  (Fig.  2)  are  longer  than  the  others,  and 
the  upper  section  of  the  foot  (Fig.  2,  /)  is  very  broad. 
The  lower  section  of  the  leg  (Fig.  2,  I)  is  concave  on  the 
inner  side  and  surrounded  by  long  hairs.     The  large  section 

119 


12U 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


of  the  foot  has  several  rows  of  stiff  hairs  across  it.  These 
broad  joints  are  the  "  pollen  baskets  "  in  which  pollen 
from  the  flowers  is  carried  to  the  hive  to  be  made  into 
bee-bread  for  the  babies.     The  foot  ends  in  two  claws. 


The  few  strong  veins  at  the  base  and  on  the  front  margin  of  the 
vings  enable  them,  thoagh  small,  to  strike  the  air  with  great  force. 
The  two  wings  on  each  side  are  so  anited  by  a  series  of  hooks  that 
they  work  together  perfectly. 

The  antennae  (Fig.  3,  at)  are  short.     The  compound 

eyes  (Fig.  3,  ey)  are  large.     The  bee  has  a  pair  of  hard, 

brown  mandibles  (Fig.  3,  md).     Two  pairs  of  light  brown 

moath-parts  pointed    at    the  end  hang 

n       down  below  the  mouth,  besides  a  larger 


L.«/ 


piece  that  looks  like  a  tongue. 


Fig.  3. 
The  shape  of  the  head  is  one  mark  that  distingnishes  the  bees 
from  those  flies  (hat  mimic  them  so  well.     In   the  fly  the  eyes 


The  Bee. 


121 


always  project  farther  from  the  head.  Bnt  if  the  difference  in  the 
shape  of  the  head  is  not  marked  enongh,  the  single  pair  of  wings 
and  the  balancers  of  the  fly  will  tell  the  story. 

In  the  various  insects  we  have  studied  we  have  seen 
month-parts  for  biting,  for  piercing,  and  for  sucking,  but 
here  we  find  a  combination  of  them  all  in  one  insect 
The  hard  mandibles  (Fig.  3.  rnd)  are  perfect  little  organs 
for  biting  and  cutting  ;  the  first  maxillae  ( Fig.  4,  mx.)  are 
long,  sharp  blades  for  piercing  flowers  ;  the  middle  por- 
tion of  the  second  maxillae  (Fig.  4,  Ig)  is  the  long  sncking- 


-mx 


tube  for  gathering  the  nectar,  the  longest  of  all  the  mouth 
parts  ;  and  on  either  side  of  it  is  a  long  palp  or  feeler  (x"), 
ending  in  tiny  joints  and  reminding  one  of  a  brown 
needle.  The  best  way  to  see  the  form  and  use  of  these 
parts  is  to  capture  a  large  bumble-bee  and  feed  it  with  a 
syrup  made  of  pugar  and  water. 


122  Lessons  in  Zoology. 

The  three  simple  eyes  (Fig.  3,  oc)  do  not  show  on  alcoholic  speo- 
imens  unless  they  are  allowed  to  dry,  bat  are  prominent  on  the 
living  inseot. 

The  sting  is  the  egg-layer  changed  into  a  powerful 
weapon. 

This  lesson  should  be  given  in  summer  or  early  antnmn,  that  the 
best  part  of  it  may  be  the  observation  of  the  living  inseot.  We  can 
follow  single  bees  and  see  with  what  persistent  indnstry  they  try  all 
the  flowers  of  one  kind,  pacing  not  the  slightest  heed  to  any  others, 
bat  so  intent  upon  their  work  that  it  is  easy  to  make  them  prison- 
ers when  once  the  sncking-tabe  is  boried  in  a  flower.  Not  the  most 
brilliant  batteronp  can  entice  them  if  it  is  clover-honey  ibat  they 
are  in  search  of.  It  has  been  proved  beyond  a  doabt  that  bees  ean 
distinguish  colors,  and  Sir  John  Lnbbock  decides,  as  the  result  of 
his  experiments,  that  their  favorite  is  blue. 


Lesson  II. 

Some  honey  and  a  piece  of  the  comb  consisting  of  worker  cells, 
drone  cells,  and  a  single  royal  cell ;  a  queen  bee  and  a  drone,  each 
in  its  vial  of  alcohol,  and  a  few  of  the  little  worm-like  larvae  in  an- 
other vial,  —  these  constitute  a  perfect  equipment  for  our  second 
lesson  on  the  bee.  By  making  arrangements  with  a  bee-keeper 
some  months  in  advance,  one  may  hope  to  secure  all  these,  if  she  is 
fortunate. 


Fig.  1. 

Many  insects  make  homes  for  themselves  or  for  their 
young.  Caterpillars  roll  up  leaves  ;  the  young  clothes-moth 
hides  itself  in  a  case  of  fibers  from  oar  softest  woolen 


The   Bee.  123 

dresses  ;  the  caddts-worm  glues  together  a  movable  for- 
tress of  sticks  and  stones  or  a  mossy  covering  of  leaves, 
in  which  it  conceals  its  greedy  appetite  and  ugly  jaws  ; 
and  many  kinds  of  bees  and  wasps  tunnel  stems  or  barrow 
in  the  earth,  bat  one  of  the  most  remarkable  insect  homes 
18  the  honeycomb  of  the  hive  bee.  Before  examining  the 
home,  however,  we  must  make  the  acqaaintance  of  the 
other  members  of  the  family. 


Fig.  2. 

We  have  studied  only  the  workers ;  but  every  colony 
mast  also  have  a  queen,  and  during  part  of  the  summer, 
some  drones.  The  queen,  or  mother  bee,  does  nothing 
but  lay  eggs,  sometimes  as  many  as  two  or  three  thousand 
in  a  day.  The  drones,  or  males,  do  absolutely  no  work. 
The  workers  baild  the  combs,  gather  the  honey  and 
pollen,  act  as  narses  for  the  young,  and  attendants  upon 
the  queen. 

"We  examine  first  the  queen,  then  the  drone,  noting  only  distin- 
guishing characteristics  of  each  as  compared  with  the  workers, 
afterward  observing  the  cells  of  the  comb. 

The   queen  is   larger  than   the  worker.     Her  head   is 


124 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


narrower  than  the  thorax.  The  wings  are  shorter  than 
the  body  of  the  queen.  The  lower  joint  of  her  hind 
legs  is  flat  and  has  no  fringe  of  hairs  around  it.  It  could 
not  be  used  for  a  pollen  basket. 

This  bee  is  a  male,  called  a  drone  because  he  does  no 
work.  His  head  is  narrower  than  the  thorax,  like  the 
queen  bee's.  His  eyes  are  not  at  all  like  the  queen's  or 
the  worker's  but  meet  on  the  top  of  his  head,  like  a  fly's. 
His  wings  are  longer  than  his  body.  He  has  no  pollen 
basket,  but  a  very  large  upper  joint  on  each  hind  foot. 


Fig.  3.  MK  5. 

A  colony  may  contain  from  twenty  thousand  to  fifty 
thousand  workers,  and  in  summer  from  one  thousand 
to  two  thousand  drones,  but  never  more  than  one  queen 
at  a  time.  When  a  new  queen  comes  out  of  her  cell,  the 
bees  "  swarm,"  that  is,  the  old  queen  leads  a  part  of  them 
away  to  form  another  colony.  Or,  if  two  queens  do 
escape  from  their  cells  at  the  same  time,  a  duel  takes 
place  which  ends  only  with  the  death  of  one  of  the  rivals. 


The  Bee.  125 

In  taking  possession  of  a  new  hive  they  cling  to  one 
another  in  living  festoons  from  the  roof,  while  the  wax 
forms  in  little  plates  under  the  edge  of  each  ring  of  the 
abdomen.  (Fig.  2.)  These  plates  they  take  off  with 
their  feet,  work  them  with  their  mandibles,  and  stick 
them  to  the  roof  of  the  hive  till  a  shapeless  mass  of  wax 
is  formed.  Then  other  bees  hollow  out  the  cells  in  the 
wax. 

Fig.  1  represents  the  magnified  Iiead  of  each  of  the  three  differ- 
ent forms  of  the  honey-bee:  a,  the  queen,  b,  the  worker,  c,  the 
drone,  showing  the  great  development  of  tlie  mouth-parts  in  the 
worker  and  their  very  small  size  in  the  drone;  also  the  differing 
shape  of  the  face  in  queen  and  worker,  as  well  as  the  enormous 
eyes  of  the  male  and  the  shortness  of  his  antennje  above  the  bend. 

Fig.  2  is  a  magnified  view  of  a  bee  with  the  plates  of  wax  show- 
ing between  the  rings  of  the  abdomen. 

In  this  piece  of  comb  there  are  three  kinds  of  cells : 
Small  cells  in  rowK,  Jaiger  ones  in  rows,  and  a  loig  one 
at  the  edge  of  the  others.  The  cells  in  the  rows  are  six- 
sided  ;  the  long  one  is  shaped  something  like  a  peanut. 
The  small  cells  (Fig.  3,  c)  are  for  the  smallest  bees,  the 
workers  ;  the  larger  ones  (b)  are  for  the  drones  ;  and  the 
long  cell  (a)  is  for  the  queen.  So  few  queens  are  pro- 
duced every  year  that  only  a  very  few  royal  cells  are 
needed.  There  are  also  storage  cells  for  honey,  which  aie 
sealed  up  with  wax  so  as  to  be  air-tight  and  keep  the  honey 
in  its  natural  condition. 

The  larva  (Fig.  4)  is  a  tiny  white  worm,  without  feet, 
perfectly  helpless,  and  entirely  dependent  upon  its  faithful 
nurses.  In  five  or  six  days  it  reaches  its  full  size,  and 
covers  itself  with  a  thin  cocoon.  After  ten  days  of  pupa 
life  (Fig.  5)  it  emerges  from  its  cell,  a  perfect  insect 


THE   ANT. 


The  large  black  ant,  that  makes  its  nests  in  trees  and  may  be 
Been  around  the  oatside  of  onr  hooses,  can  often  be  easily  eolleoted 
in  large  nnmbers.  The  winged  females  (Fig.  1),  appearing  with 
the  winged  males  (Fig.  2)  in  summer,  are  especially  large,  and  the 
workers  and  soldiers  make  very  good  specimens. 


Fig.  1. 

No  better  introdaotion  to  this  lesson  oaa  be  desired  than  to  find 
•n  ant's  nest  in  some  rotten  stamp  where  the  decaying  bark  and 
wood  on  the  outside  may  be  easily  broken  off,  revealing  the 
chambers  within.  What  hurrying  and  scurrying  as  the  ants  rush 
back  and  forth  carrying  cocoons  and  helpless  little  grubs  to  safe 
retreats  in  the  center  of  the  nest !  Utterly  regardless  of  self  and 
apparently  incapable  of  fatigue,  they  will  work  for  hours,  if  neces- 
sary, to  plaoe  every  one  of  their  helpless  charges  under  shelter. 
How  they  will  tug  and  pull  to  rescue  a  cocoon  that  has  been  pin- 
ioned by  a  falling  timber  in  the  shape  of  a  chip !  How  carefully 
126 


The  Ant. 


127 


they  piok  np  the  grabs  with  their  sharp  jaws,  handling  them  ao 
Bkillfnlly  that  the  soft  little  oreatnres  are  neyer  hurt  1  Whether 
they  feel  responsible  for  their  charges  or  not,  nothing  ooold  exceed 
the  faithfulness  of  their  oare. 

Our  specimens  are  chiefly  the  common  wingless  forms, — workers 
(Fig.  3}  and  soldiers  (Fig.  4).  Placing  these  two  kinds  side  by 
side,  these  observations  will  be  made  :  — 


Fig.  2. 


Fig.  3. 


The  ant  has  no  wings.  Some  of  the  ants  have  enor- 
mous heads.  The  head  looks  nearly  as  large  as  the 
abdomen.  The  thorax  is  very  long  and  narrow.  I  can 
see  the  three  rings  of  the  thorax  and  a  pair  of  legs  on 
each  ring.  The  abdomen  can  be  curled  np  under  the 
thorax.  The  jaws  are  very  large.  Two  of  the  ants  are 
all  snarled  up  together ;  they  have  caught  hold  of  each 
other's  legs  with  their  jaws,  and  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
pull  them  apart.  Some  of  them  are  larger  than  the 
others,  with  longer  bodies,  larger  heads,  and  stronger 
jaws. 

As  is  shown  by  the  figures,  the  soldiers  are  the  larger  forms. 
Their  mandibles  are  enormously  developed  for  use  as  weapons. 
Though  the  jaws  of  the  workers  are  smaller,  they  are  very  strong, 
the  ants  carrying  with  them  objects  even  larger  than  themselves 
for  considerable  distances. 

Careful  examination  of  the  stem,  or  peduncle,  joining  the  thorax 


128 


Lessons  in  Zoology. 


to  the  abdomen,  shows  that  in  this  ant  it  consists  of  two  joints, 
making  the  abdomen  more  flexible  and  capable  of  being  ased  with 
greater  force  in  stingring. 

The  antennse  are  bent  near  the  middle.  The  head  is 
longer  and  more  pointed  thanthe  bee's,  and  the  eyes 
are  small.     The  head  is  triangular. 


Fig.  4. 


Fig.  5. 


The  males  and  females  have  three  simple  eyes  (Figs.  1  and  2)  ; 
the  workers  and  soldiers  have  only  the  compound  eyes.  To  see  the 
month-parts  remove  the  bead  from  the  body  and  hold  it  firmly, 
with  sharp-pointed  forceps,  nnder  a  dissecting  microscope,  then 
with  a  needle  pry  apart  the  mandibles  and  carefally  separate  the 
parts  below  them  from  the  head.  The  soft  mass  thos  removed  will 
be  foand  to  consist  of  a  pair  of  broad,  leaf-like  first  maxiliss,  with 
long  palpi,  and  the  united  second  maxillae,  also  with  long  palpi  and 
with  their  inner  side  forming  a  thick,  soft  tongue.  These  parts 
ean  be  glued  to  a  card.  This  dissection  is  too  difficult  for  children, 
however. 

A  few  winged  males  and  females  should  be  shown,  and  the  large 
size  of  the  female  noticed.  The  males  die  after  the  marriage 
flight,  and  the  females  pull  off  their  own  wings  and  settle  down  to 
•  quiet  life  of  several  years,  perhaps,  in  the  nest.  Sir  John 
Lubbock  had  two  queens  that  lived  for  seven  years,  and  some  of 
his  workers  lived  six  years. 

The  larvsB  are  small  white  grubs  (Fig.  5),  without  legs, 
and  so  helpless  that  they  cannot  even  feed  themselves. 
They  are  dependent  upon  their  nurses  till  they  are  full- 


The  Ant.  129 

grown,  for  many  of  them  would  die  in  the  attempt  to 
free  themselves  from  their  cocoons  if  not  assisted  hy  the 
older  ants. 

There  is  almost  no  limit  to  the  nnmber  of  interesting^  f  aeta  about 
ants  that  we  can  gather  from  snoh  books  as  Sir  John  Lnbbook's 
Ants,  Beet,  and  Wasps^  Mrs.  Treat's  Ckaptert  on  Antt,  and 
MoCook's  Agricultural  Ant  of  Texas.  A  few  carefolly  chosen 
facts  from  snoh  books,  given  to  pupils  after  the  obserration  lesson, 
will  make  them  more  eager  to  watch  ants  for  discoveries  of 
their  own. 


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PREPARING  TO  READ; 

Or,  THE  BEGINNING  OF  SCHOOL  LIFE. 

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With  Over  300  Drawings  by  D.  R.  Augsburg. 

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art  of  helping  teachers  to  draw  easily  every  day  objects  upon  the  blackboard. 

A  good  foundation  is  nowhere  more  needed  than  in  the  teaching  of  read- 
ing and  in  learning  to  read.  Many  a  primary  teacher  who  means  well  utterly 
fails  because  she  does  not  understand  the  nature  or  amount  of  preparatory 
work  necessary  before  a  child  is  able  to  read  from  a  book  with  ease  and  with 
a  natural  expression.  With  this  book  in  hand  no  teacher  need  fail  in  teach- 
ing reading  with  eminent  success,  whatever  book  she  uses  with  the  pupils. 
The  author  begins  at  the  foundation  and  tells  just  what  preparation  should 
be  made  at  home;  following  this  with  the  preparation  at  school. 


Ool.   Francis   W.  Parker,   Principal 
Cook  Co.  Normal  School,  Englewood 

111. 

I  regard  Miss  Spear  as  one  of 
the  best  teachers  in  this  country. 
Her  book  is  like  herself;  full  of 
thought  and  suggestions.  I  can 
cordially  recommend  her  little  book 
to  all  my  fellow  teachers. 

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"Preparing  to  Read"  is  worth  its 
weight  in  golcl.  No  teacher  of  begin- 
ners can  afford  to  be  without  it.  It 
is  full  of  helps  and  suggestions. 

Alex.  E.  Frye,  Supt.    Schools,    San 

Bernardino,  Cal. 

"Preparing  to  Read"  is  the  best 
book  for  primary  teachers  that  I  have 
ever  read.  I  regard  it  as  the  most 
valuable  contribution  to  educational 
literature  that  has  appeared  for 
many  years.  If  its  price  were  its 
weiglit  in  gold,  I  should  say  that  no 
primary  teacher  could  afford  to  be 
without  a  copy. 


W.     W.      Stetson,    Supt,    Schools, 

Anburn,  Me, 

There  are  many  good  things  in  this 
world.  There  are  not  many  best. 
"Preparing  to  Read"  belongs  to  the 
latter  class.  It  will  be  a  blessing  to 
the  primary  teachers  of  the  United 
States. 

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lege, Huntingdon,  Pa. 
To  my  mind  "Preparing;  to  Read- 
is  an  ideal  book,  furnishing  both  a 
theory  of  specific  value  and  aniple 
material  for  its  application.  The 
work  does  full  credit  to  its  distin- 
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dena, Cal. 

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truly  artist-teachers  of  this  day  and 
generation,  and  this  record  of  her 
experience  will  prove  an  inspiration 
and  help  to  thousands  of  men  and 
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with  the  author. 


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